My Favorite Guy

Here is a picture of my favorite guy out in the snow yesterday. He thrills me! And, I love him.

Snow, Snow, Snow

If you have read further down in my blog, you would know that we have either had or been threatened with snow for about five days. The first day we were suppose to get snow, we got only a half an inch here, none really in town. Then there was a break (except for the cold weather) after that day and I got out of the house. Then, on Wednesday (two days ago), it snowed three inches. This wasn't a lot, but it is enough to cause problems on our crazy road. The next day we got an inch, but it seemed to warm up and was definitely warmer than the weather forcasts. Today, I'm not sure, I think we got another inch or two and it's below freezing. This means I can't leave the house without my DH.

But, I still have some shopping to do, so this is what he is going to do for me. He's going to take the whole family out to town tomorrow in the 4x4 truck.He reminds me 4x4's, even chained don't really do better stopping or going down steep hills. Yet, lucky for us we have two ways out of here. One crazy one lane road uphill and one crazy one lane road downhill. So, if he's leaving he goes one way, if he's coming home he goes another way. Once we get in town he'll take the older kids to work with him and give them a video to watch on someone's computer. I'll go out shopping. Perfect.

Well, here are some pictures of the snow from today and yesterday.

Natalie pretending she's a snow dog.

Gives a new meaning to the phrase "Free Range Chickens". The chickens could have, but didn't choose to go outside their pen.

Muck boots make great snow boots.

I think that's a pretty contrast of colors, don't you?

Two snowmen

Rachel's Snowman

A Snowman Without A Head

A Junco In The Snow

Bird Footprints

Sad Snowmen

Sophie Dog In The Snow

Sophie Dog Is Always On The Lookout For Something To Herd

Annabelle - Our Pinzgauer "Calf" - Weened About A Month Ago

The Snow Landscape

Isn't That A Great Tree?!
 

10 ?'s To Ask Your Children

Alyssa posted these questions on her blog. Her children had the funniest responses.

My kids were much more to the point, but their responses are cute nonetheless. I did this with Natalie my 7 year old, and Rachel my 5 year old. I interviewed my kids seperately, so they didn't hear each other's answers.

 

1. What does mom always say to you?

Natalie- To help Rachel get down her clothes
Rachel- Maybe (I always say this to her because she asks me for things so often.)

 

2. What makes mom happy?

Natalie- Me & Rachel not fighting
Rachel- Laughing

 

3. What makes mom sad?

Natalie- When Rachel & me fight
Rachel- Crying (not making a happy face)

 

4. How does mom make you laugh?

Natalie- Tickles me
Rachel- By laughing

 

5. How old is mom?

Natalie- 38 (This is the correct answer.)
Rachel- I don't know.
Me- Do you have a guess?
Rachel- Fourteen

 

6. How tall is mom?

Natalie- Five foot (I am 5 foot 7 inches.)
Rachel- Fifteen feet

 

7. What does mom like to do?

Natalie- Cook
Rachel- Clean
OK. These answers crack me up the most. I do like to cook quite a bit, but I wouldn't say cooking is my favorite thing to do. I like Photography, Sewing, Playing The Piano, Gardening, and Photoshopping more. And I definitely do not like to clean.

 

8. What is mom's job?

Natalie- Keeping the house clean, feeding Abigail, and watching over us.
Rachel- To clean.

9. What is mom's favorite food?

Natalie- Peppermint Ice Cream, Lemon Pound Cake, and you also like Carrot Cake
Rachel- Peppermint Ice Cream
OK. So, I've been enjoying a tub of Peppermint Ice Cream lately. And, I've been talking about which they would rather have me make Lemon Pound Cake or Carrot Cake.

10. How do you know your mom loves you?

Natalie- I just do.
Rachel- Because you're in my family.

If you would like to ask these questions of your children and are posting it to your blog, then tell Mr. Linky to get your link added to my blog.

Creative Endeavors & The Snow

Snow

Well, today, was a beautiful day. It snowed today. Three inches! That's a lot to us. We were hoping for seven, since the forcast was for three to seven. But, we'll take three. It could get tricky, as I haven't quite finished Christmas shopping and our hill coming in and going out of our place is so hard to maneuver. My husband does have a Ford F350 though with four wheel drive - and he has chains. So, we should be able to figure it out - but it may be a group effort. You know, he takes me to where I still need to buy presents for him and then he picks me up. As it is, my husband always tells me specifically what he wants, and doesn't want me to use my creativity when it comes to gift giving. Basically, he wants tools or tool accessories. Sounds unusual, doesn't it?

Video Of The Snow

Well, I wanted to share the snow with you. However, my camera battery was dead. And, I do have a backup battery! However, it was dead too. So, I'll have to charge them both, one at a time. However, I did take some video of the girls. And, it has been my goal, for I don't know how many years to figure out how to take that video and put it up on the internet. I spent two hours trying to figure it out just now, only to come to the conclusion that I need to buy some software and/or some hardware. Basically the "editing software" that came with the video camera does not work (and it has that reputation out there - it's not just me). So, we'll see - SOMETIME I want to share that with you. For today, you'll just have to trust me that it was beautiful.

I'll Share This Instead

I have been inspired by Julie's blog and by Alyssa's blog. They both always have such beautiful pictures and do such neat work with Photoshop. Alyssa also puts up some neat videos. So, I played with Photoshop and even though it doesn't have much to do with homeschooling, I share it with you now:

This is the actual picture my husband took of our home:

This is the Photoshopped picture where I turned it into our home at night:

Photoshopping

We didn't get much snow last night (or today), but it is cold. I stayed inside. Natalie and Rachel played outside for quite a while. I was playing around Photoshopping some photos of the girls. Do you have a favorite?

The Girls

They say it may snow here tonight or tomorrow. It did snow today already. And, we did probably get about 1/2 an inch. But, in my grown up mind, it isn't real snow until there are several inches of dry stuff - not the slushy stuff. Later in the day it was raining. But, we are hunkered down, awaiting the snow.

I don't know why I anticipate snow so much. When it snows, it means I can't get out. Maybe...my husband can get out. But, we have these steep hills on either side of our property. It's not just that there are hills, but it's the nature of the hills. Here I'll show you a picture of one of the hills (which is one of the ways out). This picture has no snow on it. That's the only kind of picture I have.

But, do note the curvy-ness of the road, and if you can see it clearly enough, the drop off on one side of the road. In fact, two years ago a UPS truck went off the side of the road and ended up upside down. Lucky for the UPS driver (who UPS tried to fire saying he was going too fast), his upside-down truck was caught by some trees (and not in a bad way). But, if we did end of going on the cold side one of these winters - the cabin fever could get bad. Have I ever mentioned I grew up in the city and my husband drug me to the country kicking and screaming? No, I love the country too, but it could be interesting.

 

Well, we all settled down to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" after stopping at the store for essentials tonight. The baby didn't get much of a nap today as her only nap was in the car, so she was SLIGHTLY grumpy this evening. After feeding her she conked out, so I handed her to Daddy. This kind of transfer isn't usually successful. So, I had to take a picture. Here it is. Isn't she cute???

Then, I took pictures of the other girls, since I had my camera out. Here are a couple pictures. I really like the first one of Natalie as it really shows her personality. And, Rachel is always a cutie pie in pictures (unless she is pouting - oh my). I'll add a picture at the bottom, so you can see what a not so cute looks like...

 

 

 

 

Fun New Things My Baby Is Learning

Fun New Things My Baby (Toddler) Is Learning

• How to close doors (and get herself trapped behind them).
• How to put the cat food in the cat's water bowl.
• How to carry the cat's water bowl and food dish around the house.
• How to put toys, brushes, and tubes of cream in the toilet.
• How to open up sock bags and empty the contents throughout various rooms, all in less than two minutes.
• How to climb me in order to climb up on the couch (luckily she hasn't learned to climb up the couch without me there yet).
• How to open my desk drawer and pull items out, using nothing but her sense of touch.
• How to take the phone off the receiver and start pressing buttons.
• How to find my keys and relocate them to another part of the house.
• How to find a pen, take the pen cap off, find a book, and write in that book.

To be continued...

Decorating The Christmas Tree

You can see below that our Christmas tree barely made it in the house and it was being decorated.

 

 The Decorations

 

Organizing The Procession

  

Hard At Work - Decorating

  

Pulling Off The Decorations Already

Pride

I sometimes hear from others that they themselves don't do things in a prideful way. I hear that they aren't perfect and they don't pretend to be. Yet, I ask, really? Pride sneaks into everything we do as people.

On the other side of the coin, we see pride in others when it isn't really there. We are forever making comparisons and then saying that our comparison isn't prideful. Yet our statement "I don't make comparisons" often demonstrates our pride and brokenness in a more clear way than anything else could.

I love C.S. Lewis' thoughts on this topic. We have the book Mere Christianity on CD. I could listen to the reading of this book over and over. It is so profound. We are all so lost, apart from Jesus. We ought to have more patience for our fellow brothers and sisters, as well as for ourselves.

Romans 3:3,4 "do not think of yourself more highly than you ought" is often misquoted. A more complete reading shows us:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function.

So, I say it's OK to be "proud" about some things. Being proud is different than having pride. If one of my daughters is proud of themselves that they have learned to read a new and difficult level of reading, then I will not chastise her for being "proud" of herself. Yet, if that same girl shows disdain for her sister's reading level, then I will show her my disapproval of her attitude.

I say it's OK to be proud that you homeschool. It's OK to be grateful to God that he acted on your heart in order to provide that gift to you. Yet, realize, that God may not have given that grace or even that calling to your fellow brothers and sisters at this time.

It's OK to be proud of ways in which you are figuring out this homeschooling thing more. It's OK to be grateful that it is becoming easier.

It's OK to be proud of skills you are learning - whether it be singing, or painting, or conversing with others, or loving the little ones, or sewing, or gardening, or cooking, or Photoshop, or whatever. God put those on your heart. And, we all have different gifts. What we must remember is that God gave us all different gifts and just because I struggle in one area and find another area easy, doesn't mean that I am of any less of a value. Whether you are an apostle, a world evangelist, a prayer warrior, or a waiter of tables, you are valued in the body of Christ.

Yet, we can also learn from others and be continually prodded on to do good works for Christ, to the measure that Christ has given us that gift. If I love to make homemade soup, I hope you don't feel bad about yourself if you prefer to buy store bought soup. On the same token, don't rule out the possibility that one day you may feel pressed to make homemade soup in order to save money, or to enjoy the process of making something homemade, or in order to make a more healthful product for your family. And, do not limit my excitement when I tell you how neat it is for me to make homemade soup. My example may be corny. Perhaps it is not the best example. But, let's have grace for one another and be "proud" of one another for our accomplishments.

Yours In Christ.

Miss Natalie

I took Miss Natalie to the E.R. last night. They filled her with fluids, they gave her some sugar water, and they gave her some anti-nausea medicine. On the way home, which was the middle of the night, she was talkative. I had my Natalie back. But, she is a limp noodle on the couch today. I hope she will start perking up soon. 

Prayer

If you read this sometime soon, could you pray for my Natalie? She is still sick and it is day four. I'm not worried about appendicitis, as she already had her appendix out! And she has been drinking water and keeping it down, so that's good. I just feel so bad for her. This happens too often.

Almost On Overload

Doing Alright

I am almost to overload. I've got to watch myself. I did all that cooking getting ready for Thanksgiving, which made a mighty big mess in my kitchen. Then, after Thanksgiving, I made a cake. And, I wasn't going to eat sweets like that! I've got to get back to my routine.

Having To Work

I have also been doing a lot of work from home. I've been putting up products on our business website. And messing with our style sheet to try and make our tables on our website more uniform, as well as fooling around with some minor programming, trying to see if I could do some of what our programmers do. Well, I couldn't.

But, that's where my mind's been over the holiday weekend. And, God is in control, and ultimately provision for our life has ultimately come from strategic blessing of God at just the right time. He will take care of that. Yet, I need to be faithful and my husband needs to be faithful in doing the work set before us. My overwhelming goal is to concentrate on my home and my kids, but without moving things forward, I may not be able to concentrate on that in this economy because their is so much pressure on people's spending. In other words, if our business falters, I won't be able to concentrate on home. So, I've had my head there, which isn't where I want my head. I want it with my girls, on loving my husband, and on my God. Yet, it's a blessing that I've been able to be a blessing to my husband and his goals over the years.

My Girls

My Natalie also was sick over the weekend. I'm not sure if it was a stomach bug or not. She's had GERD issues since she was little and an apparent stomach bug happens often, then does not happen to the others. My two oldest children are real health and development quandries to me. My little one seems the picture of health. There are so many issues (that really aren't that big I guess), some of which I'm not sure about sharing over the internet. Anyhow...my brain goes round and round with those issues and sometimes it's just good to move on and not try and solve it for a while.

The Routine Of School

So, I am looking forward to the routine of school and of Daddy going off to work. I think it will be peaceful.