Gratitude List via Instagram {#909 - # 928}

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever! "

that the little metal ball Whitney swallowed came out .....

and that she was ok.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

"Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

whom he has redeemed from trouble....."

afternoon art!

beautiful blue skies 

her feet little feet

"Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of men!"

a beautiful, lazy Saturday morning 

the shadows the day's sun brought

the memories of sunny days .... 

and the hope that they will come again

"He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

and burst their bonds apart!"

happy quilts and getting organized

fine silverware (that she insisted on) to brighten up her table

a husband who hangs Christmas lights mid November

Ellie's talent

the way these two play

"For he shatters the doors of bronze

and cuts in two the bars of iron."

partners in crime

hair parlors 

time alone with my Heavenly Father

"For he satisfies the longing soul,

and the hungry soul he fills with good things."

bits of lovely in our home

a sweet afternoon with friends

"to Mom. love, Whitney"

"And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

and tell of his deeds in songs of joy"

ANOTHER gorgeous, November day...

and the shadows that day brought.

"He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven."
(excerpts taken from Psalm 107)

I thank you Lord. 

around home

Things have drastically changed around home this week.

We've started school, and I'm happy to say we've had a GREAT start.

I'm still thinking about our time with our sweet San Diego family

LAST WEEK..... and I thought you might

like to have a glimpse of a few things we did around home

with Uncle John, Aunt Heidi, and Cousin Chase.

 :: CRAZY, LOUD, nerf wars .... yep, the grown men were included ::

 :: tea parties in the play room .... with a wonderful server! ::

(I think Abby and Whit were mad at each other, because

they were shooting daggers at each other in almost every picture I took.

Chasey must have noticed, and tried to do a little peace-making :)

 :: "fun-due".... a family tradition ::

 :: lots of dressy-up & dance concerts ::

:: a little work on the side..... and constant searches for "Lady",

Abby's stuffed animal that Chase insisted on sleeping with ::

sweet, sweet times

Rest

I mentioned that earlier this week, my three little ones made a big bed

and slept in the play-room one night. 

The pictures were so sweet, I wanted to document them! 

While I'm talking about sleep, I might as well also document

the song that I sing nearly every night to Whitney.

Not sure if this is the correct title, 

(I learned the song in college at a camp I worked at one summer)

but she calls it "Day is Done."

Day is done, gone the sun,

but we need not fear.

Darkness comes that we may see

the stars and know that God is near.

Greater light, rules the day,

lesser rules the night.

Sun or moon it doesn't matter,

we are always in His sight.

Greater love has no man,

than our Savior's love.

Jesus came to give His life,

that we may know our God above. 

In the name of Jesus,

we sing this lullaby.

We may have to say good-night,

but never have to say good-bye. 

May your Lord's day be sweet and filled with lots of rest.

Random Musings

We've been having some sweet praise time in the play-room since we've lived here. 

Dad gets out the guitar, and the kids get out all the random music instruments. 

I love their enthusiasm to sing and praise the Lord. So sweet to my ears!

"Suddenly, with a longing that was more than he could bear, he wanted to stop fighting against this man.
He knew that he would give everything he possessed in life to follow Jesus."
 Drew's copy-work from The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare

Yesterday, I informed Ellie and Drew that they were going to start doing their own laundry.

They were oddly excited. Perhaps now, 

they will think twice about throwing clean clothes into their basket? 

A couple of Whit quotes: 

"I love Marie (her stuffed kitty) and mommy."

I'm squeezing her in a hug and she says, "Aaaaaaa.....by brain!"

Toby has actually given up sucking his thumb. He only did it when he had his "Ruff Ruff."

We explained to him that it was time to quit, and he's been such a big boy about it!!!

(Though it makes me sad that an era has passed....) 

He's waiting for the day when he can just sleep with his Ruff and not be tempted to suck his thumb.

You know you've got a big family when the check-out man at the grocery store asks you if you're shopping for the month.....my response was, "No, this will last us a week."

The beauty of the mountains brought me to tears last week! 

Do you ever get use to it? I hope not. 

"We're not going to stay in this house the whole day, we're renting it!" ....Toby

Yesterday, Toby, Whit, and Abby played together literally all day long~with hardly any quarreling!
I couldn't bring myself to make them stop to do school, therefore I was doing math and reading with Toby at dinner time! At one point, they were eating popsicles on the pantry floor because they didn't want to stay at the table and they thought it was too cold outside......
I guess they wanted a change of scenery.

The three slept last night on a pallet they made on the playroom floor..... 

Whit will NOT go to sleep these days without me singing to her....she is NOT content with letting anyone else (except occasionally Ellie) doing the service. Every night she asks me, 

"Will you come sing 'Day is Done' and 'Jesus loves Me' and scratch my back?"

I was reminded this week, as our family was visiting a sweet older couple in our congregation,

how fleeting these days are. Betty was telling us how long they've been married... 68 years! 

I was commenting how my sweet hubby and I have been together for 18 years
(married for 15 and dating for 3) and that we've basically now been a couple as long as we were under our parent's roofs. In comparison to Al and Betty, we've got a long way to go.
She made the point, as she was watching our children, how short the child-hood years are
in comparison to the whole of life. When you're in the throws of childhood,
it seems like life at home will go on forever. BUT.....pretty soon you hardly remember those years. yikes.

I have SUCH a small allotted time to shape my little arrows to be shot out into the world.

After I wrote this post, I read our daily reading to the children from Trial and Triumph
by Richard Hannula. We read about a monk who lived in the second century named Anselm.
He was quoted in this book, and I thought it so applicable to what I had just written here.

" 'A youth is like a piece of wax,' Anselm answered. 'If the wax is too hard or too soft it will not receive a perfect image when pressed with a seal. So it is with the ages of men.
Old men, untrained in the truth of God, are like hardened wax, and young boys,
unable to understand spiritual things, are like soft, liquid wax, incapable of receiving a seal.
But the young man is pliable.
If you teach him, you can shape him as you wish.....'" pg. 79

Though the childhood years are fleeting, they are some of the most important.
What an opportunity we have to mold our little ones, and what a grave responsibility that is!
O, that we might raise our kids with wisdom and diligence,
covered in God's grace,
 to be men and women of God
who love Him and want to serve Him with their lives. . . .

THAT is the most important thing
:: that they would have hearts for their Savior ::
NOT how well they read and write.

Lord, may you give me wisdom today as I teach my children. 
May I not be worried about the trivial things, but only what is most important. 
Make their little hearts soft for you. Will you please mold them into
men and women who love and honor You. 
Help me, Father, to be faithful to the task you've called me to.
In Jesus name, Amen

We're Reading!!

We've been trying very hard in our house to foster a love for reading. 

The older two have really picked up the pace this year. 

I can't believe how quickly they've been plowing through books. 

I'm sure our standard "reading time" each evening before bed has helped. . . 

although there have been a few nights lately, when I thought their

lights were out and it was 10:30 ~ yikes!! 

I guess it's a good problem though. . .just have to be a bit clearer about my expectations :)

The youngest two are still being read aloud too. . . although I worry that

I don't read as much to them as I did my olders. 

Abby is just starting to have the confidence to read a bit on her own....

I've been reading a book called Twice Freed by Patricia St. John out loud to the olders,

and am almost done reading Little House in the Big Woods, 

by Laura Ingalls Wilder, to the younger ones. 

What do you and yours enjoy reading?? 

Picnic in the Playroom

Normal winter days, here in the Northwest,

are cold and rainy. . . 

although we have had a good number of sunny ones lately. 

I'm quite a wimp to the cold though, 

and I don't think the kids have completely gotten use to it either. 

Whit came to me last week and said,

"Can we have a picnic in the playroom?"

(No mention of even trying it outside :)

I think she expected me to say "no" because

when I answered "yes" she was ecstatic! 

I've been trying hard to say "yes" to the children's 

requests, even if it would be easier for me to say "no." 

Especially requests that involve creative play,

helping in the kitchen, and my time :) 

So Ellie and I made up a picnic lunch for them,

put it in our basket,

got out the picnic quilt,

and off they went! 

It was so worth the "yes"
for me to see the simple joy it brought them.
Of course, since the picnic was right by the bookshelf,
they naturally started reading afterwards! 

O how I want to live fully in the moment, not feeling so busy that I can't meet

reasonable requests of my children. Requests that will bring me and them joy. 

I mentioned earlier that I've started reading Ann Voskamp's book

One Thousand Gifts.

It has done my heart good. I'm reading it slowly, even wanting to go back and reread.

It reads like poetry, so for me to grasp it fully, that's how its got to be done. 

One particular chapter entitled "sanctuary of time" really encouraged and challenged me.

"Time is a relentless river. It rages on, a respecter of no one. 

And this, this is the only way to slow time: 

When I fully enter time's swift current, 

enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, 

I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here. 

I can slow the torrent by being all here. 

I only live the full life when I live fully in the moment. 

And when I'm always looking for the next glimpse of glory, I slow and enter. 

And time slows. 

Weigh down this moment in time with attention full, 

and the whole of time's river slows, slows, slows. (pg. 68)

O Father, may I be all here. Forgive my distraction. 

Forgive my busyness, especially at the expense of my children. 

Thank you for sweet moments of togetherness. 

Help me to always be looking for the "next glimpse of glory"

~the blessings upon blessings upon blessings

that you bestow upon me. 

How great Thou art!

Amen

Rockin' in the Play Room

So, my kids have been quite creative this week.

Instead of playing the usual "cafe",

they decided to have a rock concert.

They got all dressed up, 

and then called me out of my room for the surprise event. 

Love it when spontaneous play happens. 

Also, we watched the movie Legend of the Guardians

this week as a family.

As a result, the kids have daily been running around the house

dressed as owls in their home-made masks ~

hooting, laughing, and making the house shake! 

Its CRAZY but I can't bring myself to make them stop. 

I am loving these days at home with them.

I'm amazed at how content they are to be with each other,

and how content I am to be with them.

I am counting my blessings and

intentionally cherishing the moments,

for I know these days are fleeting! 

"The Hotel"

Today was another one of those days when my children 

spontaneously started playing together - all five of them. 

I think I mentioned before, that this has been one of my prayers

since our move. . . that my kids would enjoy and love each other. 

On days like this, I find I have a hard time getting all our school 

work finished.  I just don't won't to disturb the peaceful, 

joyful sounds coming from the upstairs playroom.

 This room has been transformed into various things lately.

Originally it was set up for a "cafe".

The kids and I repainted their white hutch and table black,

and they made menus, and each had different roles.

I believe Abby was a very rich lady who had a dog,

Drew was the cook and taxi driver,

and Ellie was the waiter and cashier. 

Whit and Toby were other patrons.  

 Next, the room was transformed into a ranch owned by Ellie.

Drew was the horse, Toby the apprentice, and Whit and Abby were watch-dogs. 

You should have seen Drew's  saddle and stirrups designed by the children. 

The horse would get ridden daily,

and everyone would go hunting at midnight to feed him. . . hmmm

I'll have to post pictures of the above two scenes in the future. 

 Today's playroom was set up as a hotel.

Evidently, Ellie and Drew worked for the hotel,

and those staying there would come buy things from them,

or voice their frustrations and problems. . . 

(sounds a bit more like some type of social work!)

Whit came to Ellie to voice her problems and Ellie wrote them down.

This evidently is what she said:

"Whitney wanted coffee. Her children were crying and sick because they wanted hot cocoa and there was none at Amvetts. She thought there was a store. Nothing happened. She went to a hotel and there was no TV at church and her children wanted to watch PBS kids." 

We got a good laugh out of that one.

Hope you do too!!