Why???

W-W-W what's happen'in dude!

We were sitting in front of Wal-Mart with some friends waiting on our husbands. Malachi has learned all of his letters and their sounds from watching his Leap Frog movie. He pointed to the letters on the sign and said, "What's that letter?" My friend said, "That is a "W" for Wal-Mart." Malachi said, "No, that is W-W-W What's happen 'in dude!" When I saw this picture of him, that was the first thing I thought of! :>) Thanks Leap Frog for making my son so smart!

Hard week...........

It has been a long, hard week. My mom was admitted to the hospital over a week ago with a staph infection that resulted from hand surgery. Her already failing kidneys got even worse and she is now on dialysis. She has many health problems- if you happen to read this post she could use some prayers! She will be moved to a rehabilitation hospital next week. We are hoping she gets her strength back fast and can go back home. She and my dad are pretty dependent on each other and it has been sad to see them go through this. Here is a picture of her with Madeline baking cookies before Christmas.
Well, we were praying that 2010 would be a quieter year............. Hoping that it gets better!

Myles is Four Months Old!!!

Four months of joy........

It has flown by. He is a chunky little, smiling baby now. He likes to "talk" to us. He is a smidgen spoiled! :>) It isn't hard to spoil him because he is so sweet. If I put him down there is always someone else picking him up. He can't cry a peep without one of the girls picking him up. I told Mariah one day that it was alright for him to cry. She said, "He is just so pitiful!" I guess it won't ruin him for life!

I will post some more pictures of him later.................. busy day today!

Pining Away For Spring..................

I am just not a cold weather person. Yesterday was glorious! We had a break from our long, cold spell. It was in the 60's with sunny, blue skies! It was morning, and I didn't know where Mariah was. When I found her she was at the far corner of our property. She looked so cute sitting against the tree that I walked out (with my camera:>) to take her picture. When I got out there I realized she had taken her Bible, a journal, pen and an apple with her. She was doing her "Bible study".

Notice the grocery bag that she carried her things in! :>)

She dressed herself! I don't normally put her in a red western shirt, purple sweat pants and pink crocs! :>)

**After I published this post, Mariah walked in and asked me what I was doing. I showed her the post and asked if she liked being on my blog. She said, "No, not really. I don't really want to be a star on your blog."

Blessings

Our pastor has been talking about the importance of speaking blessings to each other. Marc will often send e-mails during the weekdays while he is at work with a blessing or encouragement to myself or the children. It is a sweet reminder that he is thinking about us and praying for us while he is gone during the day. Here is a little thing he sent for the oldest two a while back that I thought was cute.

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden always advised his players, “Never try to be better than someone else; but never cease trying to be the best you can be. That is under your control. The other isn’t.”

Legendary Dad says “ Don’t compare yourself to others they are not your measuring stick but Christ is.”

The power of the tongue is an amazing thing! I can completely change the aura of the day with the way I talk to the children in the morning. When I wake up cheerful and speak positive to them they respond. I am not a morning person by nature. The other morning when I smiled at Mariah and said something positive to her (another new years goal for me is to be more cheerful in the mornings!) she said, "Are you happy this morning mommy?" Wow, that was convicting!

Tonight during our family "Bible Time" Marc had each one of us speak a blessing to someone else. Our pastor did this in church one Sunday and he talked about how it is easy to "bless someone out", but it is awkward to speak a blessing to them. At first the kids were silly and giggling, but after they settled down it was sweet to hear the things they said to each other. We plan to do this often so that it comes natural to them.

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24



Off to bed, so I can be pleasant in the morning! :>)

Interesting Stuff

Here is a video that has inspired me even more to cut back on sugar! I don't buy white sugar, but we HAVE been consuming a good bit of hot chocolate with the cold weather. After I watched this video I read the ingredients on the can......... ugh! I really could do better! :>)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxuS_NQUrNg


Also, my sister found this link on Stacey McDonald's blog (author of "Passionate Housewives Desperately Seeking God", and "Raising Maidens of Virtue").


http://www.demographicwinter.com/index.html


You can click on the trailers and watch two different ones. It is pretty alarming information!

Happy Weekend! :>)

Birthday pictures

Here are a few pictures from our New Year's Eve birthday (Matt) and New Year's Day birthday (Mariah.) We always stay home on Matthew's birthday and watch movies. This year he requested tator tot casserole for dinner. We had chex mix and ice cream pie! We stayed up until midnight (all but the youngest three). Usually, Marc goes outside at midnight and shoots the shotgun (I know, kind of redneckish.) Last year on New Year's Eve Marc made the statement "This is going to be a GREAT year for the Maynors!" It ended up being a pretty rough year for us! This year we told him to please be quiet! :>) Actually, we really were kind of glad to see 2009 go and a new year begin. While I am grateful for the Lord's protection through the different accidents, it was not something I want to ever go through again! Of course, the best part of our year was the birth of Myles. This year when the clock struck midnight we talked about goals we all had for the year and we had a prayer time. No shotgun this year.......
Then on New Year's day we went with a couple of families from church to go ice skating. Our children had never been ice skating (the younger ones have never even been roller skating!) They all hugged the wall for a little while, but it didn't take long for them to get used to it.

The birthday girl!

McKenzie and Matt

Madeline

McKenzie and her friend Rebecca.

Hanging on tight!

Worn out!
Mariah is such a funny little girl. Last year before her birthday she told me she wanted a lemon cake. I made her a lemon pound cake. She didn't like it. This year I asked her what kind of a cake she wanted and she said she wanted an oreo milkshake! So........... that is what she had! :>)

Here she is having her milkshake with her Indian costume on. She LOVES Indians!

Besides the cold weather I am enjoying January. I love Christmas but I get tired of the hustle and bustle. It is always nice for things to settle down, and I like getting my house cleaned up and organized! I went from having the baby to the whirlwind after the wreck and then the holidays. We are finished with doctor appointments and life finally seems to be "normal" again. Marc always encourages us to set goals for the new year. A few years ago I read the Bible all the way through. (Although, it did take me a little over a year.) Last year I tried to do it again, but with the baby in the fall I didn't finish it. Here are a few of my goals for 2010:

Be more consistent with my Bible reading.

Organize my house/schedule better.

Lose my last 5 lbs of baby weight!

Drink more water.

Eat less sugar (might help with the 5 lbs!:>)

Nothing that great, but I figure any improvement is better than nothing at all!

Hope you all have a healthy and blessed 2010!

Brrrrrr.............. It's cold outside!

So much for global warming................... it is COLD here in the "sunny south"! :>) My husband thinks it is funny that I was raised up north but hate the cold so much. I don't think I could live up there anymore!


This morning we woke up to our downstairs being a toasty 51 degrees! Our propane tank was empty! Thankfully the upstairs is electric, and I had a small space heater that we used downstairs. Feet looked like this.......

And the baby stayed bundled all day too!We were very glad to see the gas truck pull into our driveway this afternoon!

Because of the cold snap this week I have planned different kinds of soup or chili all week long. Tonight we had French Onion soup and it was SO easy. I thought I would share the recipe. It tastes just like Atlanta Bread Company!

French Onion Soup

8 cups Beef Broth

6 onions sliced very thin

1 stick of butter (I cut it back a little)

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

Cook in crock pot for 6 hours on high.

Serve over a slice of French bread and provolone cheese.

French Bread

1 1/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup milk (makes lukewarm when combined)

2 Tbs oil

1 Tbs honey

2 tsp salt

2 TBS lecithin

4-5 cups freshly milled whole wheat flour (hard white)

2 tsp instant yeast

Combine water, milk, oil, honey, salt, and lecithin. Add half of the flour. Mix thoroughly. Add yeast and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Let rise until double. Divide in half. Roll into a rectangle and then roll each side in tightly, tucking under the ends. Place on greased French bread pans or cookie sheet. Let rise until double. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. Makes 2 loaves

Stay Warm..................

Happy 7th Birthday Mariah!!

Yes, we have back to back birthdays at our house. Matthew was born on New Year's Eve and Mariah came 7 years later on New Year's Day. (Would you believe I had a stranger ask me if we planned that!?) The day that Matthew turned 7 years old I was 9 months pregnant with Mariah. I had an appointment with my midwife that day. She checked me and said I was 5 1/2 centimeters and that she would break my water and have the baby that day. I in my emotional state said I needed to go home and celebrate Matthew's birthday first. Matthew wanted her to be born on his birthday (now he is glad they have their own!:>) We had his little party and later that night the contractions got worse. After I got everyone to bed we headed out on a dark, rainy New Year's Eve to the hospital. My midwife broke my water and shortly after midnight Mariah Noel entered the world! (She made the newspaper for being the first baby born at that hospital for the new year.) She was born with a head full of black hair (you would never know it now with her long blond hair!) She has been such a fun little girl. She is always making us laugh. It is neat to see each child and how different their personalities are. She is definitely one that brings life to our family! We Love you "Ri Ri"!
Mariah 5 years.
This is Mariah on her 6th birthday. Someone gave her this crown when she was born and we always take her picture on her birthday with it on.

This Christmas with her new bike (above) and her new pink horse stuff (below.)

After Mariah was kicked by a horse in August she had restrictions with her activities for several months. This picture was her first ride after her spleen healed. She was SO happy to be back on Abasha. Abasha is our oldest daughters first horse. I overheard a conversation Mariah had with McKenzie the other day. Mariah asked her if Abasha would go to heaven. McKenzie tried to explain that animals don't have souls. Mariah said, "What is the point then." She was so upset. She absolutely loves Abasha!

(Notice the bare feet! This horse is one in a million!)

Mariah loves babies. She told me the other day that when she grows up she wants a baby that looks just like mine and she was going to name him Myles too. I loved the lighting on the picture below. I can't take credit though, McKenzie took it! :>)

We spent the day today ice skating with some friends from church. The children had never ice skated before. They did pretty good and had lots of fun. I will share pictures from our day later!

Happy New Year!