fun times

soaking up her new Caillou books even while she sleeps!

club building buddies

proud of his clubs

our sweetie

This club was going up on the front porch.  Yes, they got these logs transported from the woods themselves! 

My Valentines!

My bundles of Potentiality! 

 It has been a long time since I have blogged, mostly since I am hesitant to post pics of M and we have a new little blessing with us!  She is 8lbs of lovin' and will be here for a few months. I  could not find a picture of my Jebbers since he mostly plays sports and is at school these days.  All the pics of him were also with the new baby (he's a baby lover!), and so I can't post those.  So, this post will mostly be about my 2 Valentine's that are with me during the day!  These two have their share of squabbles for sure, but lately club building had brought them together.  They build clubs in their rooms, in the playroom, in the living room and anywhere there is space!  They also have some good, muddy times outdoors together. 

She loves some pigs! 

He was not even afraid when this bad boy took off for Patty-Cake with him on board!

A true bundle of potentiality! 

This boy adores this Daddy.

Mud is good for some things! 

He can get on and off all by himself!  STRONG DUDE.

Brother tired of pictures.

I thought the goggles were a nice touch when I looked up after putting my shoes on.  She is in water, right? 

These Valentines are for the 2 other mamas in our life.  One that chose life for one baby girl and one that took care of our other baby girl for 2 years! 

 

70 in January? What? Carpe Diem!

 We actually had planned this day before I knew it was going to be so nice! Still, I was so glad we did not let the wet, foggy morning deter us from what God had planned to be a wonderful day with friends and as a family.   We had a great picnic at a primitive campground on a dirt road, then  some yummy smores at a cool rock shelter/waterfall, followed by a nice fishing excursion.  Skeeter was having a splendid time on a Girls Night Excursion with Nana Mac and Carson! 

Fishin' Buddies

Boy finds his first baby Salamander. He was in love and of course, it was precious. 

Loved the fog on the river in the middle of the day!  It was there, I am guessing, because it was almost 70 degrees in January?! 

Happy Boy.

Loving Boy.

Boy cleans fish with fake multi-tool.

Boy cleans fish with REAL knife.

So little time, so just to sum things up in our world these days!

This just about sums up the Jman these days! He likes football! He love to be the wide receiving and he likes that it is rough! 

This just sums of Skeeter Girl!  She likes things that are not particularly toys like this gardening bag!  She has it all packed up for today's world. She has her pistol and some rocks.  What else could a girl need?  She was meant for brothers.  She is a tom boy!

This is my middle.  He loves all his pets and they love him.

Counting on God

Praying this Hymn often....



God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Praying for My Babes

Recently, I have really been thinking and praying about what I think my children's really important gifts are.  These ideas are what I am going to pray we can nurture.

Knothead-  compassion! He really sees needs and likes to meet them.  He once noticed that a kid at school did not have a jacket in January.  The day that we went to ask the teacher if we could give him one, he showed up with one!  Still, I thought it was especially sweet for him to notice. He also has plans to give away a football with not much usage since he just got a new one for his Bday.  I am so proud of the joy he finds in giving and meeting needs. He was happy to give us 20 bucks out of his piggy bank to give away to Samaritan's Purse gifts this year.  He came up with that number on his own and I thought it was pretty generous for a 7 year old. 

Rooster-service. He loves to work hard and help others! He lives to assist Daddy on the farm and even helping me sweep and pick up around the house.  He prefers to be working then to be doing nothing. 

Skeeter--She is my encourager!    She is born cheerleader! She loves to say, "Good job bruder." or "Good running Je-Je."  She even encouraged me just the other night.  She called me and Daddy into her room as she always does to "tell us sumpetin," which is really a delay tactic, of course. When Daddy arrived she said, "I love you Daddy."  I said, "What were you going to tell me?"  She paused and thought... "You bootiful."  I melted. 

Flarp and Skeeter

 When anyone asks Skeeter what she wants this year for Christmas her reply is interesting, "a pooper sounder."  Yes, folks FLARP is a big deal when you have two "bruders" and one of them got his pooper sounder for his birthday in November and would only let you play with it sometimes!

Then, I was looking for a word to help us remember some of our family values J and J thought that FLARP was the right word, and though it really is "inappropriate" as little J likes to say, none of them are forgetting it.  So, we talk about FLARPing decently often these days and it does not mean what you think:

F--FUN--we are going to have fun together.
L--LOVING--our family is going to be loving.
A--A-team--we are going to work as a team helping each other.
R--RESPECTFUL-we are going to try our best to respect each other.
P--PEACEFUL--PROMOTING PEACE--we are aiming to be peace promoters in our home.

So, this 2nd week of trying to be more "flarpy" I decided to give out awards to the kids for meeting some of those expectations.  I thought it was a good idea until Skeeter wanted her "sword" and Rooster wanted something tangible for his award.  He still asked me this morning for his award.  I just can't make him understand after 2 days that some awards are just pride in making good decisions and being noticed! 

It has been a fun few weeks and my Christmas stress has been pretty low this year! Yeah! We even made our own homemade play doh and I am not crafty AT ALL!  Still, that is what they are busy doing even as I type.  I love our family and investing in our relationships.