Peek-a-Boo

This is the bag that Grammy brought the children's gifts in. We put Merrick in it to see what he would do. Well, he played peek-a-boo. It was really funny.

We spent a quiet Christmas Eve with family. It was very relaxing as well. One of my gifts was a new mouth piece and reeds for a clarinet my father-in-law bought at an auction last year and gave to me after I told him I used to play when I was younger. So....my goal for this coming new year is to learn to play it again. I am very excited and hope that Clayton and daddy will be able to learn the guitar together as well. Maybe we will have a family concert for Christmas next year. (lol!) You will have to wait all year to find out. Brinnlee got a recorder and I hope to help her learn how to play too. We opened gifts Christmas eve and then after everyone left we watched the Nativity movie in preparation for our Christmas day birthday party.

The Garden

We planted a garden a few weeks ago. We have growing peas, spinach, swiss chard, carrots, green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, and beets. So far so good. Everything is sprouting. The area we planted in is raised and was empty when we moved in. My dear hubby picked up some good manure and we mixed it in with the dirt. We did have to clean the BIG rocks out first though and loosen the dirt a bit. Hopefully we will have some home grown food in a couple of months. It has been fun for the children to do a little work and learn about how the Lord provides for us. They also have their own flower pots with wild flowers. We will hopefully see beautiful flowers come late winter and early spring. Even when I don't know how things will work out the Lord does and it isALWAYS perfect. He does provide for me and meets my every need.

Fun Day

Not much happening. We had a good day today. We enjoyed seeing some friends who are missionaries in Honduras. It was great seeing them and talking with them. I always remember in the back of my mind that our oldest son told me that he thinks God wants his family to be missionaries. My response is, "well we have to be missionaries at home first and pray about where else the Lord would have us go." I guess we will see??? After that we went to the Surprise City Party for about 45 minutes. It was fun but a little cold. We did go last night to see the balloon glow, tree lighting and the sky divers. Had a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!"
I have so much to be thankful for: To God for giving me life through Jesus Christ, family, friends, children laughing and playing, prayer, living in a country where I can read Gods word freely, a loving husband, home, food, another beautiful day on earth, homeschooling, health, forgivness, love, mercy, and so many other things. I am truly blessed by the Lord in so many ways.

Today it is just our children with mom and dad celebrating together. Matt and I were laughing because we could just stay in our pajamas all day if we really want to. No where to rush too but we just get to spend a wonderful day with our children giving thanks to God.

Attitude

The last few days I have not had a very good attitude. Why do I allow the things of this "world" to take up such valuable space in my mind and get me off the path that God has me on. My expectations of my family are exactly that "MINE" and they belong to the Lord. So as a pray and ask the Lord to reveal this sin in my life I know he is going to show me and that is sometimes a hard thing to give up. He is faithful and will not give up on me though and for that I am thankful for. He loves me even when I don't want to give him all my junk and want to try things my own way. God is love 1 John 4:8.

I WON A PIE!

A few days ago I was going to make caramel apples, which I had been procrastinating on for a week. I realized that we had use the syrup the day before and was a little, no very, frustrated that I had to go to Trader Joes and it showed. So since I had to get my groceries for the week anyways Brinnlee and I headed out. Well it just happened that Trader Joes was grilling hot dogs and giving away pies. They did a drawing every 15 minutes. You had to find a laminated pie on the floor with a number on it and if they drew that number you were able to choose an apple or pumpkin pie. Brinnlee REALLY wanted to play and we had just missed the opportunity so when we got up to the register she asked when the drawing would be held again. The cashier told her in about 10 min. Brinnlee asked if we could stay and wait so she could try to win a pie. I really did not want too but by the time we got the groceries in the car and sampled the hot dogs, chips and water it was time for the drawing. So Brinnlee went in and stood on a pie. The cashier had seen her and told her to find another one because the pie she was standing on had won last time, so she switched to pie number 7. When they announced to find a pie Brinnlee was so excited. Then when they announced that number 7 had won she was beyond excited and I will admit I was too because I love pie! She choose the apple and it just happened to be that I need to by whipping cream that day as well. I don't think I have every seen Brinnlee so joyful that her cheeks were red. The Lord knew exactly what I needed and use my daughter to show how crazyy it really was to be so frustrated about needing to go to the store. He gives us blessings even when we don't "deserve" them. By the way the pie was very tasty too.

Tongue Tamer

I decided change things a little this week during my bible time with the kids. We have been reading through Proverbs and choose two words to learn about each week. We would write the definitions out and talk about what the Lord is telling us in that part of scripture. This week and for the next few we are working on taming our tongues. Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." It has been very sweet to hear all of us holding each other accountable to what Gods word says. The children will be playing and I hear some not so kind communication and then right after that one of them will repeat Proverbs 15:1 and the offender is quick to repent. I really think the Lord is using it more with me though. In my quest to turn away from my sin I often find myself using some "attitude" behind my communication. What is great is that the Lord and my children are quick to rebuke my "attitude" and gently remind me of our tongue tamer.

Time Flys

I can't believe Merrick is already a year old. We celebrated with a sweet potato and banana cake, which was just a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes and half of a banana with a candle in it. He had so much fun feeding himself and making a mess. It is amazing to me how fast time goes by. It seems to me that each year goes by quicker and quicker. I sometimes get a little anxious knowing that I only have a short amount of time to love on my children and train them in the way they should go. Everyday I look at them and am so thankful that I get the privilege to be their mom. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord.

Just Play

As I am getting use to the blogging thing time just flys by. It has been an interesting week and a half. We have had the privilege of having a friend of mines girls over because they are out of school. So our school has been focused on playing skills. Can there be such a class? It amazes me how self centered we really are and we are not even trying to be. I catch my self many times thinking of my needs and tasks that "I" want to get done and forget that I do have four children who have needs too. I find too often that the more time I get to do MY own things I want more time to my self. Then the Lord brings me back, it doesn't take long either, and tells me "your" time is Mine. He needs my time to do His work. His work starts with his children that He blessed me with. So playing skills class starts with His word. "Pleasant words are like honeycomb." Prov. 16:24; "Let your gentleness be known to all men." Phil. 4:5 (These verses I use a lot but they seem to be working on my heart more than my children). Ask your friends what they would like to do and do it without complaining. Just play. Try to bless some one else by playing what they want to play. I need to do this more with my children, "Just Play."

I Love You Soooo Much!

I often hear this sentence from my three year old little man. Although it usually comes after a granted request for "milk." The way it is said is so heart felt and reminds me of how much my heavenly Father loves me. Then I ponder, how much do I love the Lord? Do I love Him enough to say yes to ALL His requests or just the ones I want to say yes to? Oh, how I do love the Lord with ALL my heart, and with ALL my soul, and with ALL my mind, but I know that I fail daily to show Him that. I am very thankful that I am forgiven!!! I am also thankful for His gentle reminders of how much He really does love me, through the children he has intrusted me with.

I finally did it. I now have a blog. More to come in the future.