Sunday ramblings...

Macheus and I are home alone today.  Marc took the rest of the crew to church out of town.   Macheus has been "out of sorts" for a couple of days.  I rarely take him out anywhere (my attempt to keep him well), but the whole family had dental cleanings on Wednesday so I didn't have a choice.  I don't know if he picked up something or if he is teething.  No fever or other symptoms, he is just not himself.  I was kind of bummed at first, but I have enjoyed my quiet day at home.  I enjoyed the one on one time with him and now he is napping.  I also have gotten to clean out our classroom.  That needed to be done desperately!

A couple of weeks ago I took Malachi and Myles for their annual picture appointment.  These were a few of my favorites.

I love letting the kids have their animals in their pictures.  I think it is neat to look back at some of their loved pets.  Mariah had her picture taken years ago with her cat "Oreo".  We still have Oreo and Mariah still loves her! :)  Matthew's very first dog was a yellow lab named "Dixie".  She was pretty much a nightmare, but I am glad she was in Matthew's nine year old pictures.  She is definitely a funny memory! "Buddy" was his chocolate lab and he was in Matthew's senior pictures.  He was an amazing dog and we all still miss him.  Barnabas (below) seems to have a similar personality as Buddy did. 

This little fellow is such a hoot!  Yesterday we went to two Christmas parades. (Yes, we were gluttons for punishment!)  Myles freaked out when he saw the "Grinch" in the first parade.  This made him a little hesitant for parade number two.  He was sitting in my lap and was driving me nuts grabbing my face and messing up my hair.  I finally said,  "Would you stop!"  He said,  "I love you little darlin'"  He is full speed ahead and takes an enormous amount of patience and energy!  As he matures and we get to watch him grow into a man it will be neat to see what the Lord has in store for him!

 

Well, Macheus is still sleeping and I better get off of here and take advantage of my last moments of quiet.  I am trying to clean out some more things to haul to Goodwill.  We have cut back on the amount of "stuff" that we buy for Christmas, but it still seems like we have too much!  I try to keep the rule if something comes in, something goes out.  The only exception to that rule is books!  I love books! :)

Thanksgiving 2014

I had good intentions of getting these posted earlier, but life happens!  We had a very good Thanksgiving week.  McKenzie and Daniel came home the evening of Marc's birthday and stayed until the weekend.  It was good to get to spend some time with them and it seemed so "normal" to have McKenzie back home! :)

The weather was perfect all week long! We went out Thanksgiving day and took a bunch of pictures!

"Barnabas" is our new puppy.  I don't think I have posted about him yet.  Our very loved Lab, "Buddy" was hit by a car last summer.  We told the boys that we would get another dog after the wedding.  It only took us a week to finally name him!  We were going to name him "Loyal", but  Myles kept calling him "Oil". :)   The name "Barnabas" was the name of Father Tim's dog in the Mitford Series. (A book series that McKenzie and I both love!  My mom introduced me to them years ago!)

Everyone loves their new brother-in-law!

I was very glad that my dad got to spend Thanksgiving with us.  I always wonder how many more we will have.

                                                                  
                                                          The guys.

                                                These two newlyweds are very happy!

                                                                              Sisters.

                                                                    Grandpa

I always take lots of pictures of Macheus with his grandpa.  I hate that his grandma is gone.  She would have loved him so much!

                                                          Malachi and Barnabas

                                                                 Myles

                                                                 Madeline

                                                            Mariah

                                                              Myles being......... Myles! :)

Mariah made the pumpkin pie with no help at all!

                                         What is fall without a leaf fight!?

                       Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday to Marc!!!

I am so thankful that he is here to spend another birthday with!  Nothing like a scare to make you appreciate your spouse even more!  Saying that I love this man more today than the day that I married him is an understatement. Living life with him, raising our seven children together, marrying off our first child.... good times and hard times are what has made me love him more.  He is the most faithful man I know! 

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12

Love...

Random Ramblings...

It is late and I really should go to bed, but I sure do enjoy this time of night.  The house is quiet and everyone but Matthew is sound asleep.

 

Marc and I went to our Financial Peace class tonight.  We are half way through with it now.  I wish we had learned this stuff when we first got married!  Thankfully, we have never been big spenders and we don't have any debt other than our mortgage.  We refinanced several years ago with a lower interest rate and did a shorter loan.  We signed up for the Dave Ramsey course hoping to get inspired to pay it off even faster and to prepare for the future.  We have learned a lot so far! If you have never been through it, I highly recommend it!

 

                                                                 "cheese"
                                                       

                                                  Hot dog roast with the kids.

This next picture makes me laugh.  One way that I "correct" my children (usually the little boys) is to make them run back and forth out in the front yard.  Myles probably has to do it the most.  Whining, arguing, or fighting amongst themselves is a sure fire way to have to run.  The other day Mariah needed an "attitude adjustment" and I told her to go run.  (She also needed a break from her school work, so it killed two birds with one stone!)  Myles saw her out there, hit the front door and started running too.  It was so cute.  I guess he was encouraging her! :o)

I (like most anyone that gets on the computer) have pondered the pros and cons of social media.  There is the temptation to post and make your life look perfect.  Does anyone have a perfect life?  Then there is the other extreme that seems to be the "cool thing" now of... "keepin' it real".  Where is the balance?  I don't know the answer to that.  I was talking to Marc today about how I used to think it was sad that everyone communicated through e-mail.  Gone were the days of getting a letter in the mail.  I've noticed that even e-mails are getting less and less.  I now get short blurbs through text messaging and facebook messages.  Yes, I stay in closer contact with a lot of people that I probably wouldn't otherwise communicate with, but are these relationships "real"?  I think the younger generation is really missing out on meaningful relationships.  Everything seems so superficial and it makes me sad.  I also think there is a lot of valuable time wasted sharing "life" with people that really don't mean anything to you instead of living it with those that matter the most. 

                              The little boys love when "Bubbie" gets home from school or work!

Well, that was certainly random.  Just some thoughts going through my tired brain tonight.  I guess I should head to bed.  I will have little guys up bright and early in the morning!

Goodnight!

Piano Recital

It was a beautiful day for a piano recital!  I always love hearing the girls perform their music that they work so hard on.  (I videoed it with my phone, but I do not know how to upload it to my blog.)

Fall happenings...

We recently went to a corn maze with a local home school group.  The kids had fun going through the maze, going on a hayride and getting a pumpkin and ice cream.  I wasn't planning on Macheus having any ice cream but he was watching the others eat theirs, and I just couldn't resist.  I let him feed it to himself and I had as much fun watching him as he did eating it. :o)

 

                                                      Serious business!

Sweet Malachi.  This little guy is really growing up!

                                                           Madeline

I didn't take many pictures that day and I'm not sure why I didn't have any on my camera of Mariah or Myles.  I did have more on my phone but don't have them on the computer yet.  Oh well.....

I'm beginning to think life is never going to slow down.  We had a really busy week last week and this week we are playing catch up.  I guess it will always be something.  Life is good though.  I certainly can't complain!  I am finally getting to the end of "wedding stuff".   Yes, even after the wedding there is stuff to do.  Photography stuff, getting things to the videographer so he can finish, getting the announcement to the local newspaper, returning things to people that were either borrowed or things left behind......  I think we're just about there though!  Now we will move into "holiday mode"!  It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is in just two weeks!  It always seems the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas flies by and then we will be in a new year!

It is very late and I need to get in the bed!

Until next time......