seth’s fifth birthday

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Shanda

Groundhog’s day?

Super bowl Sunday?

Seth’s BIRTHDAY!!!!!

What a fun day we are having. Rich took David and Caleb to their first wrestling tournament and I took the other children to church. We got home a little while ago and Mike is here. We have Despicable Me 2 going on the TV and Sarah is taking her nap. Oh was she a handful in church. She was on one side of me and Seth was on the other. I didn’t know she had a communion cup completely IN her mouth until the nice young lady behind us leaned over to take it out. Sarah was highly offended. Seth was on my lap, then Sarah, then Seth….they were hungry, they were thirsty, she was crying, he was feeling my leg (the nylons are SO fascinating), they needed mints, he kicked her, she cried again, etc. The song leader stood up after the sermon and said something like “Don’t you just wish this service could go on and on….” and I was like “NO PLEASE NO!” LOL

It was good to be there and I’m truly glad we went. We did Burger King drive through after church was over and saw a bunch of ducks in the parking lot. Grace took pictures of them through the window.

Most importantly, today is Seth’s birthday. He is five now.

He said he loved the wrapping paper. He had his gifts opened up in approximately 20 seconds flat.

Seth the stealthy ninja

before church

The eyes to melt a mama’s heart.

It’s easy to hold up five fingers.

He had barbecue sauce with his chicken nuggets.

Seth’s friend Naomi gave him a cool gift at church today.

Seth with two of his four brothers. I can’t stand it.

Happy Birthday to the little charmer who keeps me on my toes and lights up my life.

{this moment} a handmade skirt

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Shanda

I know its hard because her face is so cute, but did you notice the skirt? I made it today! I bought the fabric when I was pregnant for Sarah but never did anything with it. This morning, she found it in my box, spread it on the floor, and curled up on it. She has a weakness for pretty things. It was obvious that she loved it, so I asked her if she wanted me to make her a skirt with it.

“YES!”

She yells when she gets excited.

I used a piece of old homemade lace that my cousin Elisha gave me to trim the hem.

The fabric is thick, soft flannel. Just right for these winter days.

I sewed away on the skirt while Seth and Sarah played at my feet and touched my sewing machine/pin cushion/scissors/seam ripper too many times.

I yell when I get excited, too.

Happy Friday!

like father, like daughter (and I hardly ever, ever make molasses cookies)

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Shanda

Last night Mom called me to remind me that American Idol was coming on in five minutes. We used those five minutes to fill each other in on our respective days. She told me that she had bread almost done, had put together a lasagna, and was about to make cookies. My mom is very industrious (she does all her baking when she gets home from work.)

“What kind of cookies are you making?” I asked.

“Molasses,” she replied.

“WHAAAAAT?” I cried, “I made molasses cookies today, too!”

She laughed. “Dad asked me to make them. He wanted them.”

It was such a fun little highlight of my day. For sure, girlfriends, me and my Dad have a connection. (You might say we’re kindred spirits.)

I ate a cookie while I wrote this and I bet he’ll be eating one when he reads it. I love you, Dad!

Calm my Anxious Heart (notes from chapters 2 and 3)

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Shanda

Two women looked
through prison bars
One saw mud,
the other saw stars.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. Philippians 4:6 TLB

Learning to be content is a heart choice-a choice to pray rather than be anxious.

When confronted with negative circumstances we have a choice: will we pray about the problem or will we worry about it?

Ultimately, contentment is more a shift in attitude than a change in circumstances.

“Lord, don’t let my pain be wasted. Use it to conform me to your image. Use it to teach me about how to be content.”

Too often in our lives, accomplishment and doing overshadow growth and becoming.

Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:3-4

On her tongue is the law of kindness. Proverbs 31

*Taken from the book: Calm My Anxious Heart, A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow.

*****

About the pictures: Before Christmas, I was walking outside and decided to cut a bouquet of winterberry branches for the kitchen windowsill. The branches were covered in bright red berries, and a favorite way of mine to bring nature into the winter house to decorate. There they sat, and sat, and sat upon the window, for over a month. After a time, the water turned moldy, every time I bumped into it a shriveled berry fell, and there were little wisps of cobwebs growing, too. I distinctly remember thinking, “It’s about time I take that jar out to the porch and dump it over the railing.” But, of course it didn’t happen. Last week, on a particular bluesy-blue day, I was standing at the sink drying tears off my face and getting a glass of water. With a startle, I noticed that the dead and shriveled branches had a surprise in store for me. They were growing, with tiny, gloriously green leaves popping out, almost like magic. I almost didn’t believe my eyes. It wasn’t magic though, it was God showing me truth through his creation: He makes things new. He makes things grow.

He makes beautiful things, out of dust.

sister day

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Shanda

Rich is a wresting coach for the school now. He is mostly involved in the elementary children’s team, but he also tries to help out with the High School team as much as possible, too. David and Caleb are in the younger group, and Jacob and Ethan are in the older group, so they are getting a lot of good quality time with their Dad. There are H.S. wrestling tournaments every Saturday and I went to one. It was awful exciting, but way too much for me to watch both the matches and the little ones (bounce around the bleachers) while Rich was off in another world (a wrestling world). I left that day with a splitting head ache and ready to tear my hair out from keeping track of kids and watching my big sons wrestle (disturbing).

I stay home on Saturdays now and Rich goes to the tournaments with Caleb and Seth. This leaves me with Grace, David, and Sarah, a combination of children which is quiet and calm, perfect for a lovely soothing Saturday at home.

Lately, with my sister Amanda’s children getting sick one after the other over and over, and me with my emotional problems, we have both of us (sisters!) started declining slowly into a sad state of winter BLAHS. Tired, sick, and sick of being tired. The remedy was quite simple, really, and began with a texting back and forth on Saturday morning. I convinced her to come over, even though she had been up most of the night with her sick son.

We left Sarah with Grace, David, and my niece Abbie, and went downtown together. We began at the coffee place, where she had tea, and I had coffee. We had bagel sandwiches and while we ate, we talked and talked and talked.

We went next door to a sweet little shopping place that is very much like Anthropologie, with beautiful goods to tempt us. Franceen, the store owner, knows me by my first name and was so happy to meet Amanda. “My daughter’s name is Amanda! Oh, your mother has two beautiful girls!” she exclaimed. We both came away with a bag of delightful things, including packages of hot chocolate and special homemade marshmallows. Feeling a little less tired and little more beautiful.

We went to a vintage clothing store next and tried on fur shawls. “I look like a bear in this!” She made me laugh. I bought a blouse and something for Joanna’s baby boy to be born in February.

Before heading home, we bought chalk to decorate the chalkboard that is on my pantry door.

We arrived home to find the girls in the midst of baking up a quadruple batch of chocolate cupcakes.

Amanda picked out a design inspiration on pinterest for the chalkboard and we set to work. It was satisfying to create something together.

“What a Wonderful World”

Oh yes, and it was easier to believe, after a sister-day.

contentment and bean bags

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Shanda

Hello, lovelies. I am sitting cross legged on the couch looking into a brand new laptop screen with fingers tip tapping across fresh, clean keys. The children are at school, Seth and Sarah are napping, the dryer is humming, the roof is dripping. It’s up 20 degrees from yesterday and feels positively warm at 39, the snow was slushy and wet under my feet when I went to the coop earlier. Seth and Sarah went outside for about 20 minutes and managed to build and destroy three little snow men. The dog ran off with the carrots. Laughter, cold hands, hungry tummies, sandwiches, naps.

What am I thinking about? In a word, contentment. My dear friend Kara shared with me a book to read and I am only a few pages in but already refreshed by good, wholesome truths.

“…..I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11

Wow, wait a minute, contentment can be learned. This fills me with hope, and a strong desire to learn, learn, learn! As Christians, God can and will infuse us with the strength we need to face each moment of every day and will teach us everything we need to know. Isn’t it encouraging that we got this far? I’m done with “chasing happy”, from now on I am going to “chase contentment”.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT

I am excited about my new book and if you want to read along, too, it is by Linda Dillow and titled Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment (I am sure men would enjoy it, too). 🙂 I am reading it on my kindle with a pencil and notebook.

***

A poem I came across recently:

What God Hath Promised

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

Annie Johnson Flint

****

A craft to do with the children

Like homemade play dough, homemade bean bags are a quick and easy thing to do with the children and are all the better for being made by our own six (more or less) hands. Seth and Sarah had a fun time choosing their own fabric from my bin of scraps, and I even let Seth press the sewing machine “foot” (scary) to sew his own.

We kept making them until the beans ran out.

Sethers was still in his cozy pajamas. I love those darling bare feet.

We ended up with six colorful little bean bags to throw around.

This one was my favorite, as you can see I got fancy with the stitching on this one, too. Mushrooms!

Sarah’s favorites were the baby blue/pink rose ones. She told me she didn’t like the mushroom one.

Watch out! They are about to let them fly.

“just to be alive is a grand thing”

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Shanda

a simply lovely life

“But there was something more {to his experience} which he felt, but could not express, sights and scents and sounds of which he could only say: ‘It seems to get hold of you like, somehow.'” Flora Thompson, in Lark Rise to Candleford

….”it is in the smallest details that the flavor of life is savored.” Sarah Ban Breathnach, in Simple Abundance

“Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You.”

This morning I sat in the recliner by the window, under a lamp, and spent some time (the best time) in the Word of God, reading Ephesians and a Charles Spurgeon devotional, Evening and Morning.

As I was reading, the children were quietly buzzing about, playing and fighting a little, too (over toys).

I was blessed by Sarah’s face as she sat back and looked at the pink plastic necklace she put around my neck, her eyes were adorably thoughtful and considering.

I thought about the Holy Spirit and how God moves like wind, blowing life into dead hearts, stirring them up to begin to think of him, a miracle of soul-work. A man shared his salvation story in church on Sunday and broke down as he told us the sacred memory of the desire he heard in his mind for the very first time “READ THE BIBLE, READ THE BIBLE” until he finally obeyed and went to the mall to find one, and buy it. The Word was like a dagger into his heart, telling him clearly who he was, and what he needed, which was Jesus Christ to save and comfort him, to take his burdens away and give him rest, finally rest, for his weary soul.

I read this morning Spurgeon’s words to the sinking Christian, and how we find our refuge in the humble act of PRAYER. Oh what a comfort to simply go to Him with all our troubles, knowing that He hears and helps in such amazing ways. If only we had eyes to see all that He truly does for His own loved and cherished children.

“The fox hies to its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great harbor of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with all sail.”

“Immediately a keen sense of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but His swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto the Savior, and we may rest assured that He will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.” Charles Spurgeon

so much to be thankful for;

Jacob cleaned the kitchen the other day, he cleaned it spotless, and one of his techniques was to take the everlasting four inch pile of mail, school papers, and other papers and put it in my bedroom with this label on top. LOL

It seems so strange to have flowers coming up in a “hot spot” in the flower beds. They do this every year in January and it’s amazing to see how they get covered in snow again, and frozen, but still come up and blossom prettily in the spring.

The chickens had a happy couple of days with milder temperatures and laid a few extra eggs for us.

I took a freshly baked berry cobbler to our Bible study brunch yesterday. Recipe here.

I just love the look of ice on the pond. We have another rainy day today but it was nice to see a peek of the blue sky yesterday.

If I do say so myself, I knocked one out of the park yesterday at dinnertime. I made fluffy cornmeal dinner rolls from a cookbook that Aunt Mary gave me years ago. (please be advised, if you try the recipe, I had to add more milk (increase amount to 1 cup), this dough needs to stay somewhat sticky and soft in order for the rolls to be fluffy. I used my kitchenaid to knead the dough.)

And a big huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

Darling Caleb, scraping up the last of his (third) bowl of soup made by mother.

contentment.

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” Agatha Christie

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:5

God bless all those who pass through here today, I pray that you have a gentle, serene day in the Lord, no matter what trials come your way. You are loved.

a thoughtful hello

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Shanda

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, we took naps. My mind was hazy (I called Seth “Caleb” three times and didn’t even know it until the family corrected me), football was on TV, we were all together, I was thinking about nothing.

Sitting on the couch next to my husband, I leaned my head back against the cushions and saw through the window above, a familiar friend!

“You didn’t get outside for a walk like you wanted to. I just wanted to say hello,” the moon remarked.

{this moment}

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Shanda

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.

frozen

Image

I took these photographs last weekend, in the early morning. The sun was on it’s way up and shining through the woods. I glanced out the window, and glanced again. Everything was sparkling and glitter, from the tree tops to the snow on the ground. I had to get out–I put my snow stuff on and tromped into the bitter air, carrying my camera. Branches were covered with an icy frost and as I got closer, the details were stunning. The stream was beautifully ice-covered, and then I saw tracks and someone’s house. Are you a rabbit? It’s nice to know we have animal neighbors.

“All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.” The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame