Matt's roses

I wanted to blog today but I realized I didn't have a single new photo to post since CHRISTMAS! (Rebecca? REBECCA? You feeling okay?!?!?)

So instead of posting without a photo (Gasp! the horror of it!) I took Matt's roses (yes, they ARE Matt's. If I had bought them for MYSELF I wouldn't have waited until the day he returned home last week. so there.) for a walk in the snow.


You can never go wrong with roses. Come to think of it, you can never go wrong with flowers in GENERAL.

Is it me or can you ACTUALLY get lost in the satin curves and shadows of their petals?! Nothing beats the richness of ruby red but this particular conversion to black and white was particularly striking to me.

Now: those important tidbits I had to share so badly that I froze my fingertips by putting roses in snow and snapping away without a coat in 12 degree weather all for the sake of a blog photo?

Here they are:

1) The house is miraculously staying clean and tidy after all that work last week. I am not sure how but I try not to talk about it too much lest I ruin my good fortune.

2) I finished up a revised 2010 budget for our family last night. It is always a great feeling of accomplishment to do that---and exciting too. If we are diligent and tight-fisted, we can have our car paid off by the end of the year and that does not include our tax return which we plan to devote fully to it. So-we have the potential to have it paid off by June! I can't even imagine what it will feel like to owe nobody nothing. (And I realize how tragic the grammar is in that sentence.) Of course, then we will have the joyous (and monumental) task of saving up for a mortgage. oh joy.

3) We came up with baby #4's inutero name. We enjoyed all the suggestions (and plan to save some for future babies) but for some reason, none fit THIS one. And yes, I am weird enough to think that a name fits a child I have yet to meet. SO-this Newman baby will from henceforth be referred to as.................................

SMOOCH

It is perfectly fitting, methinks, for this small soul.

4) Yesterday, my mother in law called very spontaneously to ask if she could take the children after school. To celebrate a quiet day that didn't need to be devoted to Christmas gift making or house deep-cleaning, I decided to treat myself to a BLT wrap from a local eatery. So I did. But when I got home, the thought, sight, and smell of it repulsed me so violently, that I shoved it in the fridge for Matt to eat when he got home. Some treat that was for me. I felt sick the rest of the day. And night.

5) The speakers went out of my computer two weeks ago and I have been lost without them. I never realized how much I used them until they were gone. :-(

6) I would like to create an inspiration wall that holds inspiring quotes within my own photographs. I decided this last night, when I read this quote:


Thanks Mamey Jane.

and one more thing::

7) I am going to buy birdseed today. Because I miss my birds.

It's been a while....

Gifts numbered 272 through 300.....

• flannel sheets

• three year old scribbles that are suprisingly, not scribbles anymore

• wispy blonde hair

• an arm over my shoulder watching a movie

• mozzerella sticks

• big accomplishments for little people

• little accomplishments for big people

• yogurt with granola (I have eaten breakfast so far every day of this new year, thankyouverymuch!)

• a girl who still sucks two fingers

• internet. internet. internet. internet

• blinding snow

• hot ginger tea

• a cable-knit scarf from hubby, who knows I can't cable knit. Or even just knit, for that matter.

• another heart, beating under mine

• pink polka dot noses, who could resist?!

• frosted pumpkin candle smells

• slippery-clean floors

• a borrowed sewing machine

• a not-quite empty but certainly not LOADED to-do list. LOADED is what I am used to.

• people (other than me) actually participating in Foto Friday

• husband snuggles

• snow angels and angels in snow

• new crochet projects in the works

• art

• encouragement

• seed catalogs in the mail

• warm quilts stitched with love

• all-too-rare bits of quietness in the middle of the day
  

• HOPE
  

Foto Friday~the first of the New Year!!!

It's Foto Friday here again, the first of 2010!

We took a break for the holidays with the plan to share a few exceptional shots on our first Foto Friday back.

I was so busy during the holidays, I didn't get a single shot that was exceptional. Nor did I try.

I had to scrounge around to find SOMETHING holiday-ish to post.

A bad case of grand plans that never got set into motion.

So here they are.

One particularly white snowstorm, we were playing outside when Corynn suggested we take pictures of snowflakes. Why, in all my years, had I never thought of that? I didn't think I could do much without a macro lens but gave it a shot anyway. We grabbed a black hat we had and started catching. Have you ever taken a close look at a SINGLE snowflake? I was shocked to find out you could see details even with the naked eye! After such an amazing (and elightening) activity, I promised there are going to be lots more snowflake studying and photographing this winter. I would love to do a better job capturing their beauty. So thanks to my six-year old for being MY teacher!



Reading in the glow of the tree.


We went to an amazing Museum at Christmastime (more on that to come) and I LOVED this display. Truly stunning.




Let's see who else has something to share!!



For those of you new to this blog (or to Foto Friday's in general), each Friday we get a new photo challenge to work on for the week and we post our photos the next Friday and link back up here. The goal is to get behind your camera and to begin, as you practice, to view subjects in a different light. To extend yourself and your concepts and ideas. To create ART instead of just snapping a picture. And to do it all while having FUN.

You may use the above button within your post and your link must be a DIRECT link to the post, not just to your blog. (That way-if newcomers check out old links they will still be directed to the actual photos and not a completely unrelated, albeit current post.) Because of the nature of the challenges, I would encourage you to challenge yourself WITHIN that Foto Friday week and not dig through archives for appropriate photos, after all, the point is to EXTEND ourselves.

I can say from experience, you start participating in Foto Friday's, not only will you get lots of practice but you will get a whole lotta support and encouragement dumped on you in the meantime. We have got a great group of cheerleaders here.

This week's challenge is...............................................

SNOW

oh RATS. I just USED my snowflake photo!!!! argh

See you on Friday!!!! :-)

The last of the "Today I" posts

(for a good long while, anyway)

Well, turns out all that pining for Matt here on the blarg last night gave me a second wind so I threw in the Created to be His Helpmeet audiobook cd and got to crackin'. (It's a good one by the way).

So glad I did too, because Matt called me at close to midnight (after JUST getting into the hotel~what a hard worker) and I got to chat with him for a little while (which wouldn't have happened had I been unconscious in bed). Got to hear that lovely deep "I love you" right before bed after all.

AND I got my bedroom cleaned, swept, and furniture polished, the closet reorganized, the Christmas boxes hauled up to the attic (they were packed a different day but never hauled), the baby nook nice and tidy, the garbage taken out, the rooms dusted and walls wiped.

AND I went to bed just before midnight, which was the earliest I have all week. (NOT something I am used to.)

...which is really GREAT because he told me tonight he should be getting home tomorrow MORNING instead of afternoon/evening and had I not got those things accomplished I never would have been able to accomplish all THIS today:

~ The children's room tidied, swept and vacuumed.

~The kitchen cleaned: which involved scrubbing the fridge, bleaching sinks, mopping floor, organizing and cleaning wall cupboards (and let me just say I found that the top shelf that I don't use for anything was at one time home to lots of mice. I had the most revolting bit of grossness to contend with but I did it. Thankfully, it wasn't near food or I might have done something drastic!), cleaned the top of the fridge, washed a weeks worth of dishes (and put them away). I even washed the tops of the dusty vitamin containers. (yeah. we are bad about taking vitamins. tsk tsk. and yeah, I am pathetic. WHO dusts vitamin containers?!?!?)

~vacuumed stairs (you ought to be ESPECIALLY proud of me for this because I H.A.T.E vacuuming stairs.

~Swept, mopped, and wiped dining room. Floor to ceiling. Added flowers and a new tablecloth to the table. And our wedding cake topper. (I am fully aware it isn't Valentine's Day but I couldn't help myself.)


~Furniture polished the antique sewing machine table

~ Wiped down washer and dryer (inside and out)

~Took garbage and burnables down cellar to take out tomorrow

~Cleaned both bathrooms. And granted, midnight came and went and I was fading fast so I didn't tackle the showers. I hate tackling showers. But the faucets are sparkly! and the toilets are fresh! and the floors and slippery! (That's gotta count for something, right?)

So, all in all, I got everything done I wanted to get done before Matt arrives home tomorrow. It's been a VERY productive week.

I simultaneously feel the urge to invite everyone I know over for a party so they can see the house at it's finest and to scream for no one to move: No child to get a toy, cut paper, have a snack or run in from the outside. Thankfully it is exactly 1:10 am as I type so the house can stay looking this way for a few more hours anyway. ;-)

Alright. I must go. to BED. right. now.

Nighty night.

Guess what?

MATT COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

er....I mean....TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the Record:

Today's goal was to tackle the office, our bedroom and the baby nook.

I got the office done.

(and somehow, miraculously cared for all the livestock and finished up all the homeschooling for the day.)

I COULD continue to work on into the wee morning hours (as I have the last few nights) to finish EVERYTHING I had hoped to get cleaned up but it turns out....when I woke up this morning, I looked something like this:

Positively green. Ironically, just a day after having laughed with my sister over the phone saying "I don't even FEEL pregnant-it is hard to believe I am. No nausea, no tiredness, no nothing."

har har har

I guess it doesn't help that I haven't gone to bed before 1 am all this week.

My eyeballs keep falling down as I peer at all the un-done's in my bedroom. I think I might actually just throw my to-do list to the wind (JUST tonight) and get a good nights' sleep so that I can be more.....rejuvenated and feel less like....throwing UP tomorrow.

Before I do, though I wanted to say a few things. You know, incredibly IMPORTANT things that really MUST be said right this very minute. Mind-boggling things that I know you will feel gypped if I don't go ahead right now and purge myself of them. (Sorry, it's on my mind.)

1# (and this is the MOST important one!)

No pickles were consumed in the making of that pregnancy announcement photo. That pickle/icecream photo was simply a photo opportunity. I would not, could not, will not eat pickles and chocolate peanut butter cup icecream. Eveeeeeeeeeeerrrrrr. (just to be clear)

#2 I wanted to thank you all for your wonderful enthusiasm and heartfelt congratulations on our big news. Not everyone is excited for us-some even are emphatically NOT excited for us, so to share our good news with people who indeed find it to BE good news is really.....well, wonderful. So THANK you.

#3 In regard to some questions in the comment section:

• No, I don't have a clue as to when I am due because I don't have a clue when my last cycle was. (I am REALLY bad at that-I never keep track.) I am guessing late August/early September. HOPING for AUGUST since we are shooting for our family to have one birthday in every month of the year and September is already taken. :-)
  
• I only found out this weekend, so any interpretated hints a while ago were just a fluke. Likely, me talking but not making very much sense. It happens. A lot.

#4: I have been *HAPPY* to see all sorts of new names delurking around here. Thank you for taking the time to write. Consider yourself properly welcomed, even if you have actually been visiting for awhile.

#5 Since we do not find out genders of children, we nickname our in-utero babies instead of just referring to him/her as "baby" or "that thing in there". Corynn was Boo. Andrew was Peanut. Adele' was Bunkin. And truth is, I keep calling this baby Bunkin too, just out of habit. But the wee thing needs a proper name and I am sorta at a loss. Have a few ideas, but none that knock my socks off. Maybe Fig. or Banana. Any suggestions?? Glad to hear 'em! This baby needs a name!

#6 Completely unrelated to "that thing in there":

Lest you (FALSELY) think I am superwoman or something by doing so much deep cleaning this week, I must share this. I am not. I think, in fact, it is actually quite miraculous that I have accomplished so much. Most of it has been accomplished late (or early, as it were) into the wee hours of darkness after the SANE world has gone to bed.

The reason?

Because Matt has a week long business trip that he is only just half-way through and has been missing from my life for three insanely long, ridiculously torturous days. And because WHEN he is gone, the bed is so cold and heartless I fight every instinct my body has to sleep because it seems so WRONG to go to cold sheets and lie there all alone. No legs to entangle. No arms wrapped around me. No Mattie smell. No giggling and chatting while Matt tries (in vain) to read a book. No last minute, breathy "I love you's" as the last thing I hear at night.

It's wrong I tell ya. A sin.

I knew the week would be torturous...it always is...so I decided I would *try* to make it speed quickly past by deep-cleaning the ENTIRE house before he arrives on Friday. (Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM stupid! Thanks for asking.)

So-that is my motivation for taking on such a laborous task and the reason I have gotten as far as I have gotten. No superwoman here~

Just a lonely, pining woman who only makes it through the cobwebs and dust each day by thinking about the look on Mattie's face when he returns home to a sweet smelling, clean as a whistle and perdy as a Sunday smile house with candles and flowers and lovely music floating in the air. If I had had a flirty vintage housewife dress, apron, pearls and heels I might have even worn them.

And then I think about how he will smile when he sees all the hard work I have done. A smile that I haven't seen in three days. And that gets me to thinking about how he will feel when I get myself right back where I belong, those strong arms that hold me so well. And then I think about deeply inhaling the scent that I have washed out of all the dirty clothes (major oversight, that). And then I think about how nice it will be to talk to him and listen to his voice...watch his lips move. watch his eyes grin, I wanna experience it ALL.

And then I close my eyes and ALMOST imagine him home.

And then.

THEN.

I look toward the bed that I was just heading to...and it disgusts me. I hate it. I hate it forever. (or atleast until Friday)

And then I go downstairs and get the broom and dustpan.

It's gonna be a long night.

Tuesday I.........

....tackled the horrific craft room I have been avoiding and shielding pained eyes from for about two weeks.

and then somehow found time to clean the church.

AND do three loads of laundry (folded, too, thank you very much)

Three rooms down. Eight to go. Thankfully, none are in as dire straights as the craft room.

Before:




I hesitate to show you these pictures because....

I am petrified you will think my whole house looks like this. Or that we ALWAYS live like this.

Both are totally false. Believe me when I say this is a one-time deal.

So this post is going to need some serious qualifications.

Qualification #1: My house is (almost) always tidy and when the craft room gets unruly it is rarely THIS unruly (or for this long).

Here are my excuses:

*It was the holidays
* I had lots of last minute gifts to run around finishing
* I had a one year old at my feet the whole time
* Said one year old loved nothing more than to roll hotglue gun sticks around the room, unfold fabric and wrap it around her head/neck, undo everything that was still left done
* said Mother allowed this because it kept said child occupied while she hastily tried to finish said gifts
* I tried to keep the house tidy everywhere else---but the craft room door was a serious temptation to shut out the horribleness for another day. and another. and another.
* I had recently "come into" some serious fabric (explained below) that I had not been able to sort through before the holiday rush happened

Qualification #2: I have a ton of fabric. DO NOT THINK I SPENT MONEY ON IT. 75% of it was given to me. MAYBE more. In December alone my Mom passed along a huge black garbage back of fabric that had been my Oma's AND the librarian, who always notices all the sewing books I borrow, asked if I might be interested "in a little bit of fabric since she no longer sews". That little bit of fabric turned into what equalled FOUR garbage bags of stuff. That on top of a whole wall cubicle set FULL of fabric (mostly given to me).

I never turn down hand-me-downs, and am always grateful for the givers' thinking of me and being so generous. But, as I cleaned this room tonight I realized that there is a WHOLE lot of fabric that is so NOT my style (think deer prints) and that I am storing up all this fabric I will likely never use. (Hey! Anyone want any deer fabric?!?) Not to mention wasting space. Not to mention appearing at best a packrat and worst a spendthrift. Not to mention getting all sorts of stressed out at the STUFF I have accumulated.

After:






I cleaned the room out today and got everything as tidy as I could but I realized I need to make it a goal for this winter to sort through with open eyes as to what supplies I ought to keep and what I ought to get rid of. This MUST be a January or February project.

So it is going to be.

yuck

Yummm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave one itty bitty comment on someone elses' blog talking about goosebumps and before I know it~ half my blog readers know the news before I even hint around at it here!

I am amazed.

For the other half: HERE IS A CLUE!!!

Yummy!!!!


And if you still don't get it, let me spell it out for you:

We just found out that it isn't Newman Five after all but that there has been a new little Newman secretly hiding out for the last few weeks. A shy one, methinks.

We are beyond thrilled with this tiny new year's surprise~ only five days into it, 2010 has already proven to be a good year! :-)

I told Matt that we were expecting again when we were playing bananagrams. I had to "PEEL" almost the whole letter pot but I eventually was able to spell out my message. He was so intent upon winning, he never noticed until the end.

Mattie thinks he won that game, but since what I had planned worked itself out perfectly, I consider myself to be the winner.

:-)

Today I:

• took down the Christmas decorations
• singlehandedly rid our living room of the tree growing from it
• swept. Twice.
• moved all furniture in living room around in order to sweep under them.
• Took the rug outside and shook it.
• then vacuumed it.
• Mopped floor (and under furniture! Worth repeating!)
• Dusted and polished all furniture (and things on the furniture).
• Vacuumed all couches/chairs.
• Shined painting and clock.
• Cleaned windowsills
• de-cobwebbed (if that isn't already a word, it is now.)

And in the schoolroom (since I was on a roll)

• swept
• vacuumed
• furniture polished furniture
• dusted stuff
• Organized school shelves. (They had gotten BAD)
• Sorted through baskets full of miscellaneous stuff and put it all away
• sorted through toys and added a few to yardsale pile
• de-cobwebbed (told you it was a word)

Though these rooms are clean and fresh, they still look terribly forlorn without all those beautiful lights and shimmers everywhere. :-(

What's so wrong with having a Christmas tree up all year long, I ask?

2010:: FIND JOY

The snow glows blue in the darkness of early morn and the winds howl as I stoke the burning embers of orange in a box of black. Sparks of flame sputter and jump about then the coals settle once again.

Here I am again, at the beginning of a new day and not only that but of a new year. A fresh start. A clean slate. A second chance. These beginning days of a fresh new year are always spent in contemplation and consideration. It is my tradition, my right and my joy.

Some say resolutions are pishposh-they are simply words and goals easily forgotten or abandoned. They say you ought to work on being better EVERY day throughout the year. Resolutions are at best futile and at worst, a waste of time.

And perhaps these things are true for some. Lists don't do it for some people. Resolutions ARE mere words for some. AND THAT'S OKAY.


But for me, for ME I think the only way to know where you are going is to see where you have been. The only way to know what needs to change is to EVALUATE your life. The greatest way to change your life is to set your self up for success.

I remember as a girl having a poster up in my room that said "If you shoot for the moon but don't succeed, you will still be among the stars"

I would rather aim high and not succeed but make progress than to not aim at all and get nowhere.

Now is about the time when I open my eyes to how far I've come on my journey and humbly recognize how very far I still need to go. I draw my roadmap for the coming year~outlining all those areas that I ought to visit, for how can we get to where we need to be without a plan? I write my lists of provisions (after all, a long journey requires some preparation for success), lists that will help me to succeed and make the path more tolerable. Every single day I make lists to try and accomplish all that needs accomplishing so it naturally follows that lists for a new year help to guide and spur me on in the right direction. And they do.

This time last year, I shared my goals, which could be focused into three main areas.

In no particular order:
1# Reading and study. 2#Finances 3# Pantry.

Thanks to my road maps, I think I succeeded in all my goals.

1# I kept a log of all of my reading this year. Something I have never done before but something I found very helpful to look back on (and to look forward to!) I would add books as I heard of them to the "Reading Hopeful's list" and then try to borrow them interlibrary loan as I was able. It worked out splendidly because there was never a not-knowing-what-to-read-next syndrome. Here is the completed list.

I also listened often to sermons and conference lectures and studied vast and varied subjects whenever I could. I found Evolution to be a major studying point this year and found Ken Ham's works to be incredibly insightful. I also really enjoyed the debate between Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson: Is Christianity Good for the World? I can't wait to see the DVD. I am very bad at debating myself but do very much enjoy listening to talented debaters.

I will be starting up a new book list for this coming year because I felt it was incredibly worthwhile. And any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! ;-)

2# I am extremely proud of this one!! We are a one-income family and most people would raise eyebrows at how much (or little, as it were) that income is. I was doubtful we could make very big of an impact on our financial situation in one year...but we did (I think)! After reading several of Dave Ramsey's books, I started the year with a zero-based budget and implemented the envelope system. It was challenging and fun at the same time. I actually felt like we had MORE money to spend, not less, because I was holding a set amount of money in my envelopes all the time. We paid off over $8,000.00 paying OFF our credit card, paying for a speeding ticket (tsk, tsk Mattie!! hehe), finishing up some old hospital bills and adding more payments to our carloan. The credit card balance was zero in June and hasn't been used since. And won't. But this is not all! We were also able to save/invest about $4,000!!!!! The success stories in Dave Ramsey's book are jaw-dropping incredible and compared to them, our little story seems inconsequential but to us it is huge! Sometimes I would get discouraged about how long it has taken us to implement such an EASY plan and how far we would be had we learned to budget and use cash-only from the very beginning. But I thank God for opening our eyes and giving us a vision and the means to accomplish it. And I thank Matt for working so tirelessly each day/week.month/year to support our family and help us thrive. And for wearing glasses for an entire year while I used his contacts money for other things. Love you Mattie! :-)

#3: Not only did we pay off all that money and save/invest a hefty sum (for us) but we did so while devoting a goodly portion of money to creating and stocking a pantry. Matt and I are comfortable with the amount of food we have stored (the garden helped immensely too!) and are pleased with our progress, though we still have a way to go. I can't tell you how nice it is to have extra food set aside for suprise visits, last-minute company or cheap-grocery-budget weeks. Or huge snowstorms. It is incredible how much stress has been relieved-and I didn't even know I was stressed! I have stored water in the basement with old laundry detergent containers and drinking containers for washing up and drinking when the electricity is out and let me tell you: that has come in handy more than once already! I enjoyed learning about dehydration and hope to implement that knowledge even more this coming year. It is pretty cool.

So it seems, 2009 was a successful year for us in the reaching of our goals.



Here are a few hopefuls for the coming year:

~Eating breakfast every morning (I feed everyone else and don't myself.) ~Creating yearly/monthly schooling calendar and plans. I am a list person-so why haven't I been doing that for schooling?! ~Eating more beans and rice ~try to teach myself piano ~practice knitting ~Save up money to buy a macro lens and to get the timing fixed in the sewing machine. ~Expand my herb garden to accomodate homemade tea blends ~Pay off the car loan ~Begin saving for a downpayment for a house and land. (And continue to be self-disciplined enough for a cash-only money system. And to continue to keep a steady and reliable zero-based budget.) ~Family Read-Alouds ~More memorization for children (and myself)
These are all my superficial goals.

Looking back on this past year, though, not everything is commendable. In fact, there is a rather lot to be ashamed of. There has been much fear and despair in 2009. Seeing our own liberties being taken away from us, watching the government usurp authority and make very poor choices, watching as jobs are lost and businesses shut down--my soul has been wracked with it.

Also this year our dreams of home, land and homestead here in this place were shattered when the owners backed out of a deal to let us buy the place and told us they wanted, instead, to save this place for their son. AFTER we moved here. AFTER we cleaned out barns and planted gardens. Thankfully, it was right BEFORE we planned to plant the orchard. I have struggled terribly with bitterness and resentfulness. The fact that this was a Christian family hurt the most.

Fear = not enough trust. And bitterness and resentment is never commendable, no matter the circumstances.

All this to say:

This year a huge goal for me is to take whatever happens in my life with a smile. Be thankful always, in all circumstances. And recognize the gifts God gives for what they are. Remember Who is in charge.

If I could sum it up in a motto it would be FIND JOY.

And if that motto needed a KEY reference, it would be this:

Psalm 146

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

Might my eyes be open to the great joy of each day, of a Maker who cares, of truth kept, of Hope in this year of our Lord 2010.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first moment of the new year as the clock struck midnight~I didn't need my eyes open to find great joy.

The first kiss of the new year.

And there was GREAT joy.

2009 in review

In January...
I shared the family secret that had plagued me for two months. Adele' might be deaf. She went through five hearing exams, all failed (some due to technical difficulties) only to be told to come back when she is two. A year later~while she may be hearing impaired in one ear (maybe) she is not deaf by any means and jabbers with the best of them and comes a 'crawlin when you call. I praise God that He allowed me peace and joy as I accepted the news and I thank all of you for sharing and encouraging me during that questioning time.

In February, I spied my first bluebird.

In March, we got ChIcKeNs!!!

April showers brought:

lots of sewing for me and my girl...and a Panda who turned THREE.


In May,
I got apple blossoms for my birthday, laundry got lilac-infused on the line, I started my cardboard garden, Opa came to visit and MacDonalds farm got larger with a calf.


In JUNE

sisters adore one another. (and I posted a skirt tutorial.)




In July:
I start my Gratitude list.
(and I hosted a rainy book exchange. And the garden grew.)



In August:
we went visiting.

Matt used vacation time for the first time in....ages.

In September:

my girl turned six (*sniff*)
I got my LIBRARY!!!!!
We had our FIRST Foto Friday Challenge (to be restarted next week! So be ready!)
and
we started off the school year with a bang!


In October:

Harvesting went into high gear
we made cider
the Blob MOVED NOT
Got bunkbeds--now have a spare bed--NEED MORE CHILDREN
Had a tussle with Blue Eyeliner (I won)



In November:

We somehow survive self-portrait Christmas Family photos again this year
The Elf workshop opens
We get indoctrinated in evolution
We use any excuse to play

and baby turns ONE.



In December:

We created
We decorated
We admired
and we had the best Christmas ever.


Because we have life and love that is so much more abundant than we deserve.

Christmas Day

Since moving back near family again, Christmas has become....hectic, once again.

Christmas Eve with my folks (and bros and sisters).

Christmas day with Matt's Gram and about 30 extended family

Christmas evening with Matt's folks (and bros and sisters)

This leaves not a whole lot of time for US and a little family Christmas of our own or the making of our own yearly Christmas traditions. A fact which I mourn every year.

It also makes the days go by super fast, be super-filled with visiting (and gifts) and as a result: makes picture taking hardly a priority.

Nevertheless, I snapped a few.

From Our House:


1. Somewhere in the midst of baths, doing hair, dolling up, gathering and wrapping presents and opening stockings, I managed to make gingerbread pancake snowmen. With real whipped cream snow. (and REAL maple syrup that Matt's dad made....for the record)

2. a lovely living room with bits of love framing doorways, stockings waiting expectantly in the golden glow, and Mary and Joseph beaming with pride and adoration.

3. Finding a spot to hang stockings was quite the predicament. Eventually, I settled on an old salvaged shutter leaning against the wall.

4. Throughout the rest times of December, Corynn would make drawings, then wrap and tape them up and secretly tuck them into stockings. (I had my suspicions she was an elf!) I loved to watch how excited and intent she was as the receiver opened her present to them. She clasped her hands behind her back and stared intently at the unwrapping just long enough for the paper to rip before she swooped in and starting pointing and explaining the meaning of it all. Incredibly dear.

5. My precious nativity. One of the best wedding presents we received. An angel eventually flew from her treetop home to the stable in order to pay homage to the Christ child too.

6. Utter exhaustion. The very best kind.

From Gram's:

After lunch and before presents, entertainment is provided. This year we had a visit from Elvis.


From Matt's Folks:

The very best Christmas present ever was for Andrew this year. Grandpa built him a huge, beautiful wooden barn. With boxstalls and a removeable roof. And two entrance doors so the tractor can come in and out with turning around.

It is beyond beautiful and even more so was the time and effort he put into it. Grandma had the idea and Grandpa brought that idea to life, making the gift a beautiful token of love written from their hearts to his.

Everyone was flabberghasted when it was revealed and nothing could compare afterwards.


Apparently it was Santa's workshop over there because he also made a little doll cradle for Miss Adele'.

We feel incredibly blessed by their love.