"Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart"... Already!

This video is just so precious and amazing!  A little 2 year old reciting all of Psalm 23!  May the Lord richly bless her parents for investing time and effort into helping her learn the most valuable thing in the world, God's Word!

Our precious little ones are capable of so much more then we realize!  There is so much more I could be doing to teach and invest in Clara and Hil... And when I am spending time with them, I need to keep evaluating whether the things we are learning and doing are the BEST, or of just mediocre value.   A big thanks to these parents for this precious reminder!  And, Way To Go Little, Andi!!!  May you learn and love God's Word for your whole life!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Psalm 119:105

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."  Psalm 119:11

Beautiful Fall

We've been blessed with some lovely fall days and have been able to get out some and enjoy them!  Yesterday... it was one of our favorite farms where we picked apples, pulled around one of their great wagons and visited the petting zoo once again!  Today it was simply time out of doors, some of which was spent in the leaves... as you can see!

Clara Speaks

The Clara-isms were flowing freely today...

While driving around in the car with Mommy, Clara noticed someone out in their yard "scraping the leaves with a fork."   :-)

This evening, I was putting herbs in capsules (to prepare them for being swallowed :-)) and Clara decided to help me (I was impressed that she actually managed to get some herb into a few capsules and get them put back together).  After the herb fell out of a capsule she'd been filling she exclaimed, with drama in her voice, "Oh dear!  I'm throwing a fit!  How I can do this?!"

At another point this evening I overheard her stating "I think gluten free is a better way."  You know what new phrase she's been hearing quite a bit in the last little while!

Bro, Sis and Popcorn

Post-Wedding Conversation

We arrived  home safe and sound last night from the TX wedding!  It was a bit of a whirlwind trip... Tuesday to Sunday.  My brother, Randy, married his beautiful bride, Raechel, in a lovely ceremony on Saturday.  I'm blessed to have such a dear new sister!

Stephen, Clara and Hil were all in the wedding.  I wish I could share some pics from the big day... but as I mentioned before we're having downloading problems.

I wanted to share some quick snippets of coversation with Clara from earlier today.



Clara:  "Can we go back to the wedding area?"

Me:  "What do you mean?"

Clara:  "Can we go back to the wedding area?"

I again question what she's referring to.

Clara:  "Where Uncle Caleb is and Uncle Randy married Aunt Raechel."

Ahhhhh!  Heart wrenching to Mommy who would LOVE to be back with all of them too!  I explain that we can't go back there because it's far away and Uncle Caleb and Uncle Randy and everyone aren't even there any more either.

.... more conversation....

Clara: "They go to moonlight first?  They have to go to moonlight first?"

Took me a second or two... but I think moonlight may be a take off on "honeymoon".   I love it!   I think I like "moonlight" better!



Well, the trip was such a treat... and as you can see Clara had a grand time too!  She and Hil greatly enjoyed the love, care and fun times with Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents and new friends! Hopefully, I will manage to work around the picture downloading problem and still share some pics of the  wonderful day!

Two Trips and a Journey

I know... long time no post!  Well, I'm finally sitting down to type a bit about our lives of late... provided we still have an audience out there after such a long "absence".

Ok, we'll start with trip number one (referring to the post title:-) ).   A couple weeks ago, I headed off on a business trip... but it wasn't my business trip.  :-)  Stephen's company sent him to beautiful Lake Placid for two days of work related training and he got to take his little family along!  What a treat for me.  We weren't sure up to the very last minute whether or not the kids and I would be going, due to the fact that both C and H were dealing with sickness.  But in the end we decided to go ahead and go for it... and it turned out to be a nice little get away.   The first evening we did a cookout fire, cooking "silver dollars" in the coals and roasting biscuits on unrolled coat hangers.  During the two days Stephen had training, the kids and I visited a couple Olympic venues, including the site of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice".  We also got to ride on a ski lift and then ride an elevator up 26 stories to see what it's like to be on a ski jumping tower! I don't know what kind of person you have to be to strap on skies and actually choose, of your own free will, to swish down that steep slope and take off into the air going, ideally, 60 miles an hour,... but I can tell you one thing, I'm NOT that kind of person!!!  I got some GREAT pictures during those few days, but unfortunately either our camera or the computer is having issues and we  haven't been able to download any from the camera for quite some time now!  I have a few things on my phone... so might share some of that later!

The second trip is an upcoming one!  This week we have the much anticipated excursion to my "little" brother's wedding!  I'm so looking forward to getting to see my dear family!  Lord willing, all my siblings will be there, except for David and him wife, Amity, who are expecting their little Blessing from the Lord about two weeks after the wedding.  They will be missed!   Clara is looking forward to getting to be flower girl and Hil will be make his debut as ring bearer.  And my Stephen is to be handsome groomsman.

The afore mentioned "journey" is of a completely different nature.  Stephen is suspicious that he may have a gluten sensitivity of some sort and is wanting to try going off of gluten for awhile to see what happens.  At first, the idea of starting to cook and bake without gluten was NOT too exciting or appealing to me.  However, I've started warming up to the idea and after thinking more about it, talking to a friend who is also starting to experiment with GF, and watching some videos online, I'm actually getting excited!  I think it will be fun!  I love trying new things in the cooking and baking arenas (mostly because I'm a fan of food :-)... so this should be actually quite enjoyable!   So, we begin a journey of learning about such things as Teff, Xantham Gum, and Amaranth... and how to bake with them!  It may be a short term journey or it may last for a life time... either way it should contain lots of learning, experimenting, failures and, hopefully, lots of success and yummy and nutritious food!  I'm looking forward to really getting started on the adventure once we get back from the wedding.  Expect more posts on this as we head off on our GF experiment!

So there you have it... two trips and a journey.

Together

Clara is no longer the only little one who likes to dance around here  Enjoy the sweet performance!

"Look Mom! No Hands!"

Look closely and you will witness the reason for me suddenly "losing control" of the video!

Monday's Moments To Remember

It was cold and grey at the park.  However, some rays of sunshine still made their way to my heart.  The first was arriving and finding that hundreds and hundreds of Canadian geese had decided that the small pond and it's surrounding grass would be a good place to gather.  An impressive sight.

Some more rays of warmth cut through the chilly day as I pushed my little Hil on the swing.  I decided to sing him a song with accompanying hand motions.  After I sang one or two he rewarded me with his sweet grin and encouraging round of applause then signed for "more"!  So of course, I sang some more.  More smiling, clapping and signing for "more".  How can a Mommy say no?  On I sang.  And on he clapped and requested encores!

Thank You, Lord, for using my little son to bring sunshine to a grey, cold day!

A few weeks ago....

We have a lovely lake near us that offers a super playground, excellent walking, biking road, equipment rentals and even a free tram ride.  The kids and I finally took the tram a little while back... it was a 45 min ride and I wasn't sure if they'd get to bored and squirmy.  There was a 10 min break part way through where they were able to get off and play.  They did great and we had a good time!

Precious Little Singer

Here's my precious little singer, singing along with an instrumental cd (Jaime Jorge).  She's not singing real words, just making stuff up as she goes along.  :-)  And the microphone is the vacuum cleaner hose.  :-)  Enjoy the boy chiming in at the end!

Am I Neglecting Something?

"Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?"   Luke 17:17


Food for thought from William MacDonald's book "One Day At A Time":


"The Lord Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to thank Him, and that one was a despised Samaritan.

One of the valuable experiences for us in life is to encounter ingratitude, for then we can share in a small degree the heartbreak of God.  When we give generously and do not receive so much as an acknowledgment, we have a greater appreciation of Him who gave His beloved Son for a thankless world.  When we pour out ourselves in tireless service for others, we join the fellowship of the One who took the place of a slave for a race of ingrates.

Unthankfulness is one of the unlovely traits of fallen man.  Paul reminds us that when the pagan world knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful (Rom. 1:21).....

..... Ingratitude permeates all of society.  A radio program called "Job Center of the Air" succeeded in finding jobs for 2500 people.  The emcee later reported that only ten ever took time to thank him.

A dedicated school teacher had poured her life into fifty classes of students.  When she was eighty, she received a letter from one of her former students, telling how much he appreciated her help.  She had taught for fifty years and this was the only letter of appreciation she had ever received.

We said that is is good for us to experience ingratitude because it gives us a pale reflection of what the Lord experiences all the time.  Another reason why is is a valuable experience is that it impresses on us the importance of being thankful ourselves.  Too often our requests to God outweigh our thanksgiving.  We take His blessings too much for granted.  And too often we fail to express our appreciation to one another for hospitality, for instruction, for transportation, for provision, for numberless deeds of kindness.  We actually come to expect these favors almost as if we deserved them.

The study of the ten lepers should be a constant reminder to us that while many have great cause for thanksgiving, few have the heart to acknowledge it.  Shall we be among the few?"

- William MacDonald

This has given me some good food for thought!  So VERY often I'm guilty of ugly ingratitude toward the Lord and the many incredibly loving, kind and generous people He has blessed me by putting in my life!  May I become like the Samaritan in Luke 17... having a heart of thankfulness and taking the time and effort to express it!

Overheard recently:

A little girl saying or singing "Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace".  I was blown away and realized she had picked that wonderful passage of Scripture, describing the Lord Jesus, from our "Sing The Word" CD! (www.singtheword.com).  So precious and thrilling to mommy's heart!


Same little girl in her car seat singing "I don't have a friend like the lowly Jesus.  Not, not one.  Not, not one."  A wonderful hymn adorably reworded... and one I had no clue she knew any part of.



Struggling with recently:

Trying to "retrain" a little boy who has become very used to sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed over the last couple months or so and wondering how to deal with his frequent night time waking.  Not fun, but I must remember his precious baby days will soon be passed and I may be missing them before I know it.




Enjoyed recently:

An impromptu twirl around the room with the whole family to the beautiful song by Selah, "Wonderful, Merciful Saviour".

A lunch all together at a local Polish restaurant.

Sampling PG Tips Special Blend Tea, from my Dad's store.  Very good!

Those moments when the cuteness of my precious kidos just hits me so hard!

A little boy becoming more and more funny and interactive!

A little girl sitting with little brother and informing me that he is "Stephen" and she is "Gracie".  :-)

Same little girl taking food orders with pen and paper in hand and bringing Kiah and I drinks in the form of unopened cans of tomato sauce.

The little boy making pretend eating or drinking sounds from the tomato can given to him by sis.



Thank You, Lord, for Your countless blessings!

Moments... From The Last Couple Weeks

Hil at the park

Christa and Clara and a job well done!  :-)  They both enjoyed working on this all together.  This was Clara's first time to work on this kind of puzzle!  There was lots of help from Mom... but the way it was enjoyed makes me want to get more at a similar level.

Grandpa and his VERY faithful little shadow... taking a lunch break at the fair!

Me and the little man.

Me and my babies!

What A Treat!

What a treat this holiday weekend was for our little family!  We got the fun of having Grandma and Grandpa M., along with another dear couple, here visiting!   In the space between Thursday night and Tuesday morning, we managed to pack in a trip to one of our favorite farms for blueberry and apple picking, an excursion to the State Fair, lots of chatting and apple peeling and freezing and BBQing hamburgers!  Grandpa also spoke at the chapel Friday and Sunday.  We all enjoyed the visit and it went so fast!  We sure do miss living near family, but it is such a joy when we get to have these times together!

Talk About Skills!!!!

And don't miss the other new post below. It contains a great mother / daughter conversation!

Quite Grown-up

Sunday morning I was packing up some snacks for the kids to have while we were at chapel, when in walked a little girl and we had a conversation that went something like this:

Clara: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Packing snacks for chapel."

C: "I can't want any snacks 'cause I'm the Mommy."

Me: "Oh ok. Well, maybe you could feed them to your baby (doll)."

C: "Ok"

.... a second later...

C: "She can't eat any because she doesn't have any teeth. She can only drink her bottle."




This girl sure brings smiles to her Mommy!

The Family is Growing!

Yes, sir-yyee! Summer is a good time to announce when families grow! Gracie and I would love to announce and welcome the newest member of our extended family, Raechel P., who accepted the kind invitation for marriage from the gregarious, fun-loving romantic you all know as, Randy, uncle to Clara and Hil. We approve of this arrangement and look forward to the forthcoming announcements of the matrimonial festivities. Welcome to the family Raechel!

This month's post....Hahahaaaha! Sorry we've been so long.

This is Stephen.

Clara greeted me at the door recently looking like this. And the first thing she said was "I Gracie, this my baby, and (pointing to the real Gracie) this.....this.....this is Momma." Something very cute for the end of the day. Like getting desert before supper.



These are two neighbor girls that we have been getting to know, Sarah (7) and Christa (4), sisters. They came to the Sunday morning meetings this morning and we get along great.



This picture was taken last weekend. The little girl next to Clara is from Rochester, but the other two girls are local with us. We also have just gladly received a new family from Winnipeg, Sam and Hannah. Their daughter, Isabel, is not present. Poor Hil is outnumbered with the ladies!



Sorry we haven't been getting as many posts in. Hopefully that will not always be the case.

Peanut Butter and Honey

Today:

I have this habit of coming up with new nicknames for my kidos. They can be rather random or can have a logical source. Well, one I've used occasionally for Hil is "Peanut-butter man"... not that he likes the stuff... it's just nick name... maybe had something to do with occasionally calling him "Peanut". Well, I had used it at one point today and I heard my little girl say "I ah honey girl." :-)
Peanut-butter and honey... great combination! I think she may have just gotten herself a SWEET new name! :-)