Good-bye January...

Hoping that February is as beautiful as January has been!

Perfect picnic weather.

I am already itching for spring gardening.

A winter project

My sweet husband (who didn't really care what our bathroom cabinets looked like) spent his day off the other day painting.

I have hated the brown wooden cabinets since we moved into this house seven years ago! The tile is slate blue (not something I would have chosen either.) I decided to paint the cabinets black and go with pewter hardware on them. The walls were khaki and he painted them again with a shade darker. I like the way the black and khaki look together.

Now... on to the next project!!!

It has been one of those days. I started my day off by fussing at Matthew the minute I saw him this morning. After he left the kitchen to go do chores I turned to my kitchen sink, and there in front of me was a scripture verse that I wrote on an index card.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight O lord, my strength and my redeemer. Psalms 19:14

I love writing verses on cards and taping them to mirrors or sticking them places so that we will see them as we go about our days. Honestly, my motive in doing it is so that my children will read them. But oh how I need to read them every day!

When he came back in the house I asked his forgiveness for being harsh with him. He admitted he had not followed instructions and he was quick to forgive me. I am always humbled at how when I screw up my children are so quick to forgive.

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

I am very thankful that His mercies are new every morning! Now, I need to go to bed so I can get up in the morning and hopefully have more patience with my children than I did today!

Matt is Driving!

After 3 hours spent at the drivers license office, Matthew got his permit! We had already been waiting over an hour when he finally got to take his test. He finished the test in about ten minutes and then the computers froze. We waited forever while they worked on them and finally got out of there at 5:30!

He turned 15 last year but didn't have any interest in driving until now. He has had lots of practice already driving tractors, four wheelers and the truck in fields. When McKenzie got her permit she had NO experience at all. The day she got hers I took her into the little town where we live to practice. There wasn't a car in sight but she was terrified. The speedometer didn't even register. I remember thinking she would never learn how to drive. She is now a very capable and careful driver! :o)

We left the drivers license place and I had to go by the grocery store. I knew he was wanting to drive, so once I got back out of town where there wasn't any traffic I got out and let him drive. There is a five mile stretch of a country road that leads to our house. He hadn't gone half a mile when there was a license check! The state patrol kept flagging him to move up and he was creeping. He finally stopped five feet from the officer. The guy laughed and said, "What are you going to make me walk?" I leaned over and told him that he had just gotten his permit an hour before. He said, "Yeah, I thought so." I don't think Matthew thought it was funny. :o) He drove really well for his first time and he went quite a bit faster than McKenzie did her first time! When we left the house everyone was cheering him on, and when we got home they were greeting him with the camera!

Monday

It's a dreary Monday morning....

He is sleeping it away.

Wish I could curl up and join him but school and laundry are calling.

Go GREEN....

A while back I had an idea to do a post on some of my favorite things. I never got around to taking the pictures and doing the post. I decided this morning to take pictures about one of my favorite things!

No, bananas are not my favorite thing.... :o)

I had been wanting a Vitamix for years and just couldn't ask Marc to spend that kind of money on a blender. Finally, after hearing so many good things about it we splurged on one several months ago. Once I got it I wished I hadn't waited so long!

We drink a smoothie every morning now! On a typical morning we go through about 6-8 bananas! I buy about 4 bunches of bananas twice a week! We use lots of spinach, kale, carrots,bananas, apple, orange, pineapple (when it is on sale!), cabbage, frozen fruit, flax seed or coconut oil etc. I change them up sometimes but they always have the first six ingredients. If I use fresh pineapple it is plenty sweet, otherwise I use a little agave nectar. The Vitamix is so great that you really can't even tell what is in it. It is perfectly smooth when you are finished!

Even Myles loves them! :o)

Come on McKenzie.... SmiLE!!!

**No, I do not work for Vitamix nor do I get anything for doing this free "advertisement" for them! I just thought it would be something interesting to share! :o)

Christmas 2011 Pictures

I realized when I was cleaning pictures off of our computer that I never finished posting Christmas pictures. If looking at lots of family Christmas pictures bores you, you might want to skip this post. :o) This one is for me... I like documenting as much as I can on my blog. One day I hope to have it printed!

One evening before Christmas Marc took us out to eat at Cracker Barrel and then to look at lights. It was a pretty impressive light display and the temperature was mild! Makes looking at Christmas lights even more fun!

I loved that the Nativity was a focal point in the front of the house.

I didn't realize that Myles wasn't looking until later. Oh well... I think he was just making sure that strange bearded man wasn't going to get him!

I took Malachi to the dollar store to do his Christmas shopping. He was a hoot! McKenzie followed him around with a video camera. We laughed so hard the whole time. When we got home I let him do his own wrapping. He wanted it perfect and got so frustrated that he almost ended up in trouble! :o)

We got a call from our local Chick fil a that Myles had won the Christmas gift basket. We are regulars in there and they all laughed when we brought him in to get his prizes!

Myles didn't really get into the present thing this year. We would try to get him to open something and he would push it away and say, "Uh-uh."

Christmas isn't complete without some new horse tack!

The only thing Malachi asked for was a policeman G.I. Joe. I think he was pretty pleased!

Mariah is very proud of her Bible. It was so sweet tonight when I was sitting on my bed reading my Bible, she went and got hers and brought it in there to read with me.

We had planned an ice skating day with some friends from church. That was the day that my dad fell and broke his hip. We ended up leaving our oldest four with our friends and taking the younger two with us to the hospital. I snapped a few pictures before we left.

We ended up having "Christmas" at my mom's a couple of days after Christmas. My dad was in the hospital and we knew he would be there for a while.

Myles and Malachi with their cousin Clayton. Below -Madeline with grandma.

Mariah and Madeline with their cousin Carrington.

These are the best days of my life...

He was quite pleased with himself! He did have the truck and wipe container in the toilet too!
Well, she didn't write "no clue" this time, she just wrote "nope". During her math lesson she was learning about yards. She was supposed to guess how many yards it was from our front door to the mailbox and then to actually measure it. I told her we weren't going to do it because our driveway is so long. In her written work it told her to do the same thing from the front door to her bed. She took it upon herself to decide that was too far too! :o)

A note from Mariah...

Malachi's attempt to get out of drinking his green smoothie this morning. "Mommy, do I have to drink one today? You know, you are going to lose all of your vegetables?"

This afternoon I was heading out for a run. Mariah and Malachi were playing outside. It was looking like rain and I told Mariah if it started to sprinkle to tell the other girls to get the laundry in. Malachi hollered, "Can I put my bathing suit on?"

McKenzie had been dealing with the little ones and she came downstairs exasperated. She said, "Mama, you are amazing!" I asked her why and she said, "Because we are so draining and you just keep having us." :o)

May your days be as full as mine...... :o)

Off to work he goes...

Matthew turned 16 in December and went to work at his first "real" job in January. We didn't want him to work just anywhere. We were thinking along the lines of outside/farm type work after school hours. The town that Marc works in has a large Mennonite community. He often goes into their stores and has gotten to know a lot of them. Matthew was hired at one of the hardware/sporting goods/feed stores. He started this week and has loved it. His schedule will be sporadic during the school year. He will work four days this week (one of which is Saturday) and then has a couple of weeks off. Then a three day stretch. I think it is going to be good for him! He is learning that he can't procrastinate anymore! School work in the evenings, studying on the weekends, and jumping out of bed to get chores done before he leaves. He is growing up! His first day was supposed to be today but they called at the beginning of the week to see if he could work this past Tuesday. I was out of town at my parent's house and missed his first day of work! It made me sad not to see him off, but McKenzie took pictures and packed his lunch for me. :o)

I know you don't protect, train and raise your children to grow up and stay up under you, but when the time comes to start letting them spread their wings it sure is sad! From the time that Matthew was about four or five he has always stood and waved to Marc as he left for work. To this day he sees his dad off every morning. That is one of the qualities that we love about him is his loyalty. Marc said it was a strange feeling to be taking him to work instead of waving to him as he left.

The owner of the store told Marc that Matthew did a good job, caught on quick and as long as he kept that smile on his face he would do great! :o)

Funny, Funny Mariah...

I recently told my children that when they tell me they are finished with their school work I expect every assignment to be finished and with no blanks. I was grading Mariah's math the other day and one of her "answers" was "no clue". She said, "Well, you told me not to leave anything blank."

Tonight she was playing a hymn on the piano and she told me she wanted that sung at her funeral. I told her that I wasn't planning on being at her funeral and she very indignantly said, "Well, that isn't very nice."

I was laying on the couch and I told her that I would pay her $1 if she would rub my feet. She looked really grossed out and said, "I don't really do skin type stuff."

During Bible time Marc always asks if anyone has anything they need to "get right" or share anything from their day. I asked Mariah for forgiveness for being short with her during her math lesson. Immediately, two others asked her for forgiveness for different things. She looked so pleased and said, "I get three forgiveness's tonight!"

And.... When she found out I was blogging about her she said, "When I get a blog one day, I am going to embarass you!" :o)

Happy 9th Birthday Mariah!

Mariah Noel entered the world shortly after midnight on January 1st 2003. I remember just moments after she was born my midwife saying, "Happy New Years baby!" She has always felt special because her birthday is the first day of the year.Mariah has added so much fun and laughter to our family. She was a high strung and very emotional baby/toddler, but is probably one of our easiest going children now! Funny how that works....

Another good quality that Mariah has is contentment. She never asks for anything and is always wanting to give gifts to people. We had the hardest time coming up with things to get her for Christmas and her birthday. Each of our children get a leather Bible with their name engraved on it when they learn how to read well and show responsibility to take care of it. This Christmas Mariah received her Bible. She is so proud of it that she has even carried it with her into the grocery store!

When we asked her what she would like for her birthday she said, "If you gave me a pack of gum I would be thrilled!" :o)

When she was born a friend brought her this New Year's crown. Every year we take her picture with it on.

I am very grateful that the Lord saw fit to put Mariah in our family. She has been a blessing and a joy! This past year has been a big year for Mariah spiritually. She has asked lots of questions and is really trying to seek the Lord. I pray that she will always have a hunger for God's word and love Him with all of her heart.

We love you Mariah!

"Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart." Psalm 119:1-2