“Family Happinesses”

so often the little unexpected moments are what make me reach for the camera…..funny, sweet, and all-good.  I love my family!

The flu made us all sleep twice as much as usual.  It made for some very cozy times.

Sarah sleeping on the couch.

Boys sleeping on the couch.

Handsome man sleeping in my bed.

One afternoon we could not find Caleb.  Rich finally found him….sleeping in the boy’s closet with the door shut!

Christmas Eve cinnamon rolls, before bed snack.

Caleb brought a slab of ice to the house so I could see it.

Seth looking through slab of ice.

David was so discusted by this bowl of chicken scraps.

I had cleaned out the fridge and gave the bowl of yuck to David to walk to the chicken coop.  I got a good chuckle out of it.

Caleb and Seth made Christmas pictures.

Caleb started making his own peanut butter and jelly sandwich and when he asked me to open the peanut butter jar I noticed all the JELLY he had used.  I scraped it off and measured it.  Apparently Caleb thinks 3/4 of a cup of strawberry jelly is the *just right* amount. 

I played with play dough with the little ones and made this dough man.

David staring at the tree and dreaming of Christmas.

Christmas day, 2012

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. 
~Joyce Brothers

Merry Merry Christmas!  What a wonderful day it is, to celebrate our amazing Savior’s birth!  Such a sweet baby boy, swaddled and placed gently in a manger lined with hay, tenderly cared for by His mother Mary.  How we love to imagine that moment when He entered our world.  He understands us, because in humanity He came as God, with so much love and compassion.

He understands that our human hearts can feel the love for Him now, but never fully, until that day when we are all gloriously changed and together with Him in Heaven.

Our lives are covered in His amazing grace, so that we can live fully, abundantly, in so much joy. 

Even in this yearly tradition, as families, we thoughtfully shower one another with GIFTS, we can never give anything so rich as the gift of God’s son, to us.

And our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude.

And oh, what joy to see freshly fallen snow on this sacred morning!

Each one of us was so happy to see it.   Our hearts longed to see snow on Christmas day.

 
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I fed the chickens leftovers from our Christmas breakfast; blueberry pancakes and a couple of old bananas. 

I took Jacob a plate of food.  He was in the garage setting up the (newly gifted) cymbals to his (already owned) drum set.

I spent some time watching David demonstrate his new snowboard.

When I went inside, I was greeted by this warm scene;

We are all in various stages of the flu.  I am almost over it….still with a lingering cough and stuffy nose.  But Rich just started with it yesterday and Seth got worse, today.  Sarah got off the couch to play for the first time in days, today for Christmas.  And, dearest Grace, I believe she has only smiled once, and slept most of the day away in a feverish haze.

I drank tea from a yellow owl, thank you Hannah!~

Jacob completed his first architecture LEGO set; the White House.

David started his new book and said, “I can already tell this is going to be good.”

I snuggled a hot Seth on my lap and tasted my first-from-the-box truffle~

And Sarah played with a new puzzle.

Merry Christmas from me and my family, to you and yours!

I do so hope it is filled with joy and peace. 

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer
and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

 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.

(Doing a lot of snuggling as seven of us recover from THE FLU!!!)

(Seth and his friend Bethany, with some of the cookies we baked.)

It has been a busy morning.  Seth, Sarah, and I had to bundle up and go out in the drizzly rain to the store.  We had run out of both laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.  While I was getting us ready, the phone rang and it was my friend Kathy.  We made quick plans for her to come over for a visit and bake cookies while our children played together.  I had enough time to go downtown to get my errands done. As soon as we got back, I put Seth in the bath to play (he had been begging me for a bath all morning).  After I got him settled, I listened to the answering machine and heard a message from the school nurse; Jacob was sick.  I ran into the bathroom and pulled a disappointed Seth right back out, made him get dressed, put coats back on everyone and out we went to get our sick boy from High School.

(There are police cars parked outside all the schools now.  It is for peace of mind and as a safety precaution.  Everyone’s nerves are on edge and I am sad to see the police there, I remind myself that they want to keep the children safe and that is a comfort.)

We got home from our dash to the school and a few minutes later our friends arrived.  Jacob got comfortable on the couch and I gave him blankets and medicines.

Kathy brought her favorite recipe for cherry dream cookies and we mixed up a quadruple batch, talking continually. 

After baking, we had time to sit, look at magazines, and talk some more.  We also exchanged Christmas gifts.  I gave her a sweater and she gave me a chunky (very cool) necklace with big green beads.  Kathy had to leave at one and I put Seth & Sarah down for naps.  They played hard all morning (including torturing the cat) so I know they are good and tired (and will maybe take a long one?).  I turned off the lights.  It’s a gloomy day outside; the glow of the Christmas tree, and the candle on the table are so pretty.  Jacob is sleeping on the couch after throwing up several times.   Yes, it appears the stomach bug has struck.    Soon Grace will be home from school and then, after another hour, David and Caleb will also be home.  Ethan has a basketball game today.  He sprained his ankle yesterday so we aren’t sure how much he will be able to play.

I smell like butter, flour, and almond extract.  I’m enjoying a cup of coffee.  Later on I’ll go downstairs and do my daily two miles on the treadmill.

I thought it would be fun to just sit and document the morning.  I’m in such a busy stage of life, with no idea of what each hour will bring. 

Happy Tuesday, friends!  ((((loves))))

Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening
to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.  ~Pooh’s Little
Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne

My husband was in D.C. for three days last week.  Jacob and Grace had an all-nighter with youth group on Friday.  Saturday became a napping day for my tired family.  At one point, I counted four family members sleeping in the livingroom at the same time; three children on the couch and Rich on the floor. 

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After a slow morning, we ate lunch, left Jacob and Grace sleeping, and went outside for a little fresh air.  It was cold and crisp.

David walked to the stream and found an Icicle Store where all the icicles were free.

Taking time out each day to relax and renew is essential to living well. ~Judith Hanson Lasater

Caleb went to icicle store, too.

Seth (three years old) wanted to take a picture of his mama.  It is a struggle for him to hold my camera and push the button at the same time.  This is the picture he took.

Sarah was in her crib, sleeping, Rich and Ethan were working on their four-wheeler trail, and I took the three little boys up to the field.  We were looking for pinecones and acorns to make into ornaments for the tree.

There was great joy from the boys when they discovered the “wheat”.  They wanted to make flour.  I told them it wasn’t wheat.  “What?  Not wheat? What is it then?”  David wouldn’t believe that it was ordinary grass, and finally decided that it was tobacco. 

They sat with me, we looked up at the sky.  I laughed when the tore off their shoes and socks and threw themselves down the hill to roll and roll.  My precious, happy children. 

We were still looking for nature treasures on our way home.  I found a frozen-solid puff mushroom.  When I pulled it up, I discovered diamonds underneath.  I tried it on and it fit! 

When we got home it was discovered that Caleb had left one sock behind in the field.

More and more of our hens are laying now.  Last night I counted 11 eggs on the kitchen counter, in the blue ceramic egg crate.

David wanted warm chocolate chip cookies so bad.  I take the cravings of a ten year old boy seriously.  Unfortunately, we had the eggs but no chocolate chips.  He had to make do with leftover fudge.

After our sugary snack, we slept. Everyone except Ethan.  Eight peacefully sleeping family members in the middle of the day, this, I believe, was a first. 

 On Sunday, our Pastor preached a comforting sermon, including some ideas on how to minister to the broken hearted.

1.  Accept the reality that life is not always easy, with many days of darkness.

2.  Accept the fact that there may not be any answers for whatever bad thing happened.   “The secret things belong to the Lord.”  Deut. 29:29

3.  Recognize our oneness with everybody.

“Show proper respect to everyone.”  1 Peter 2:17

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”  Galatians 6:10

4.  Weep with those who weep.  Be sincere. 

5.  Love them.

Today my love is at work and the children are at school.  I am at home with Seth and Sarah.  I need to do some cleaning (I’ll make them help!) and during their naptime I’ll continue wrapping presents.  I also plan on finding the glitter and glue so we can make ornaments when the kids get home.

Have a wonderful day, friends.

My heart hurts for what happened here in our home state.  An evil has destroyed the lives of innocent children, the only consolation is imagining the love they feel now in heaven, with Jesus.

Thank you to my dear friends who have reached out to see if my family was okay, I am so moved by your love and concern.  Yes, we are fine.  My young son David came home from school oblivious to the events of the day and begged me to take him to the library, so we went, just the two of us.  When he asked for McDonald’s next, I said yes to that, too, taking my brother’s advice to make a memory.  I want to hold my children close.

Always in the back of my mind are thoughts and prayers for all familes who have lost loved ones at this very tender time of year.

Peace and love to you all.

Hello friends,

We awoke to a heavy frost.  There was a chill in the house when I got up to send the childen off to school.  David made me smile as he ate his scrambled eggs.  “I woke up happy this morning.” he said.  “I noticed!” was my reply.  It is sometimes hard for my 10 year old to get up at 6:30.  Last night he was so tired he fell right to sleep and slept so good that he woke up happy.

I went down to the coop after they left on the bus, and I gathered one egg.  I will go down again later to see if there are more of those lovely treasures waiting for me.

My house is pretty messy but at the moment I am choosing to neglect/ignore it.

I had to go to the grocery store this morning.  The dog was out of food and the fridge was getting empty.  Seth and Sarah had a hard time while shopping.  Sarah rode in the cart and Seth walked (if you can call it walking).  Sarah had put a tiny car in her coat pocket and Seth kept trying to get it from her, causing crying and nervousness.  I could not get him to forget about that car and I was about ready to pull my hair out (or, his).  I spent some time carrying him on my hip AND pushing the cart around.   Finally we were done and home again.

For lunch, they had raspberries and peanut butter sandwiches and I ate a big bowl of salad with lots of veggies.

The dog is sound asleep next to me, and the children are tucked away into their beds for a short nap, as I have to leave in an hour to take Ethan to the orthodontist.

When I was at my parent’s house this weekend I studied their Christmas tree.  So many of the ornaments I remembered, but there was one I wondered about.  Did one of the children in our big family make it? 

Mom noticed me looking at it and told that she had made it herself.  She said, “I found a picture in magazine, I don’t remember which one, and I got right up to make one.”  She inspired me to do the same, because it is made with a very common place item.

Instead of throwing away your next paper towel tube, you too, can make a pretty Christmas ornament.  I just thought that was too fun and determined to make one.

As fate would have it, on Monday we used up the remaining towels from TWO tubes, one for me and one for a child.

David walked by and so I grabbed him…..”Dave!  I’m going to make an ornament!  Do you want to make one with me?”  And he graciously agreed.

This is the one he made.

And this is the one that I made.

All you have to do is cut the tube into 10 pieces, and hole punch each end.  Then, take some wire ribbon and gather the circles onto a short length of it.  You will see the flower shape start to come together.  Then, take a longer length of ribbon and run it through the outer holes of the tube.  Tie the ends together as you see in the picture, making a small circle of ribbon in the middle, and a larger one on the outside.  The knot goes INSIDE the tube-circle in the center to make it look balanced.  Tie a hanging string on, and put it on the tree.  The whole project takes no time at all, perfect for busy mama who want to do a little non-stress crafting of a very simple sort.

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In other news, our girl Grace sang in the school chorus Holiday concert last night.  We had a wonderful time enjoying all the music.

Yesterday at Bible Study, our speaker said this:  “I’ve been around long enough to know that God will provide the time you need to get your Christmas preparations done.  Whatever needs to be done WILL get done.” 

“The Christian life is a call to rest.” 

“He will sustain His people through everything.” 

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Now that I have written a little note here, I will go make my afternoon cup of coffee and do my devotions.  What a blessing this quiet time of day is!

I hope to hear from you about anything that is on your mind and heart today~

With arms outstretched I thank. With heart beating gratefully I love. With body
in health I jump for joy. With spirit full I live. ~Terri Guillemets

Oh, my friends, imagine my great delight this morning as I entered the coop to tend my flock and discovered not one, but four new eggs.  My flock is officially laying for me, after these many long months of having to buy eggs at the store.  I was looking forward to this day so very much. 

First eggs are quite small.  So small that I could hold four in one hand.  Or, could I?

Oh botheration!

I dropped one.

The hens came running to see.  They hardly even know what eggs are at this point, as only four of them are producing.

So they are curious.

*sigh* It was a regrettable loss, but I still had three.  Two for my breakfast and one for Sarah. 

Fried in a cast iron pan in plenty of butter, I even got to eat them off a Christmas fiestaware plate.

Next to me at the table, Sarah ate her small egg right up and then asked for more, so I gave her the rest of mine. 

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In other news, look at my Ethan.  Isn’t he handsome?  This is how he dressed for school today.  Apparently, the basketball team has to dress up on game days.

The first thing I did this morning was iron his shirt and tie his tie.  Then, I took a picture.

Right now?  At this moment?  I love my life.  Thank you, Father.