Snow Again

We have had a banner year for snow so far! Last week we had some flurries and enough stuck to let the kids go out and play in it, but it melted within hours and was gone. We woke up yesterday morning to an inch of snow and it continued to snow for hours and hours. We wound up with just shy of four inches, and it is gorgeous. It hasn't been above freezing for days so the snow is still on the ground today. It even snowed a bit more today and made yesterday's dry snow wet enough to pack and make a snowman with today.

Eddie came home early from work on Tuesday, and we did some sledding on the front driveway. The kids made snow angels, and my daughter ate and ate and ate loads of the stuff! Today we only went out for a short time to make a snowman and play a bit. It will probably melt tomorrow, but we're enjoying it while it lasts! Our little birds are having a difficult time finding food though. They usually get it from the ground, but a few of them have taken advantage of our pinecone feeder and are getting every last bit of peanut butter and seeds off of it!

No, I Guess I'm Not

Ryan and I marked our first anniversary in our house the same way we did when we moved in...throwing up our dinner. He seems to be feeling much better today, though it was a long night for him and Daddy. I am still feeling queasy and tired because I didn't sleep much. I repeat...health is such a blessing!

Yes, I Am!

Thanks for the prayers, well wishes and inquiries about my health...I am feeling much better! I am still tiring easy, but other than that, I feel back to normal. Health is such a blessing!!!!

One Full Year

Today's the first anniversary of when we moved into our new home. It doesn't really feel like a whole year. There's so much we still have to do to make our house feel more like home, but I think we finally have all the "bugs" worked out (thankfully, since our warranty is now officially elapsed!), which was a much bigger undertaking than I had ever imagined. I've never had to schedule so many people to come fix something in my life! The electrician is still supposed to come pay a visit to check on a couple things, but other than that I think I have managed to get everything else repaired or replaced. It is so wonderful to have plans for our house that don't include repairs and redoing what previous owners thought was tasteful! I love cleaning the house and everything is so new still. I feel very blessed by our home and our new community.

My biggest concern is that we still haven't found a home church. The church we had been attending "on trial" for about six or seven months had a huge mess explode right before Christmas, and since we didn't personally know the people and who was telling the truth, etc., we just decided to start looking again (we weren't whole-heartedly committed anyway because of some other issues). We keep praying, but we just haven't found where we feel the Lord wants us yet. We just found out this week that the pastor of the church we had been attending has resigned and the elder board was disbanded. We had a friend call us to ask us to come back. Ed is meeting with him next week to get more details of what's going on with the church. If they are starting over from scratch maybe we will stay after all. Please pray for us!

For the Love of Children

Ahh, the soft sound of snow falling...
broken by the screeching of Ryan's car noises!
We had a beautiful snowfall this morning! Since I am still pretty sick, I really just wanted to enjoy it through the window with a cup of coffee and the fire going, but of course that wasn't what Ryan and Abby had in mind. So I took a deep breath, put on the most enthusiastic face I could muster, and we got out the boots, mittens, and warm coats and went outside. They had a blast!


Our backyard became a huge, slushy mudpuddle in short order, and it was time to come inside. I took off muddy boots, muddy mittens, and muddy coats and clothes and threw them all into the washing machine while the kids took a nice warm bubble bath. It was a lot of work for 45 minutes of fun (and frankly I am totally exhausted now), but I'm glad I decided to "die to self" and bless my children. I know I would have regretted letting this opportunity pass just because I'm not feeling well.

Weekend Retreat

It's been a few years since I've been to a women's retreat or had any time alone away from my beloved children. So when a friend offered me her parents' house while they were away on vacation, I took advantage of the opportunity! My sweet hubby watched the kids, and I went on over Thursday evening.

I had a very refreshing and relaxing time...at least up until Saturday evening when it became evident I had caught my daughter's illness of the previous week. I came home sick Sunday afternoon, but it was so good to see my family. Eddie had taken such good care of them, and the house was so clean and neat that it added to my joy in coming home!

In addition to running a bunch of errands sans kids on Friday, while I was away I also spent hours reading my Bible and a book by Charles Spurgeon. I also made lists and more lists and I organized my computer files. I think I finally figured out how to use my new iPod that I got for Christmas, and I listened to a couple of sermons I had downloaded. I planned my homeschooling for the next several months, menu planned, planned sewing projects and household projects. I prayed and cried and prayed some more.

It was a wonderful time of focusing undisturbed on the Lord and His word. The house was so quiet! It was wonderfully quiet, though the first night it kind of creeped me out being in an unfamiliar house and all, so I turned on the television for a little noise and ended up watching the Food Channel for a while. I know that sounds pretty pathetic, but I love that network!