Important Lines

Clara has been voicing some important lines lately that I MUST share with ya'll.

This first line she randomly chose to voice to a small group of ladies gathered for Bible study last night.  "Mommy was feeling yucky so she got something to eat."

The second line she has used at least twice, once when she had been told to make the announcement and once when she had not.

"Don't you know, Mommy's got a baby in her tummy?"

Yes, she's telling the truth folks!  We just found out about a week ago that we've been blessed with an addition to the clan!   We're thinking the due date may be around the end of August / beginning of September.  We're so blessed!

Wintry Song

Do you ever just feel the urge to sing... even when surrounded by mud and grey skies?  Well, something like that seemed to happen to Clara when we were out playing for a bit today.  Let me guess the mud and grey skies weren't bothering her much at all!  While she was in the singing mood... Hil was in more the exploration mode.

I did learn a lesson today, and that is, before you go to all the work of going outside... snow boots, snowsuits, etc... have somebody make a trip to the potty first!  We'd been out for about 20 or 30 minutes when the urge suddenly hit a little someone.  :-/  You live and learn!

Tackle!!!

Surface Rust

This is Stephen.

I recently wrecked my dear wife's car.  We got the same make and model, just a year older, with 20k less miles.  I used the rest of the insurance money to buy parts.  Here's the problem.  Before I bought the car I was thinking....that's a lot of rust.  But there is a saying here in New York that sellers like to say.  "Awww, that's just surface rust."  Meaning it's solid.  In fact, the shipyard I just came from saved money in paint by allowing the surface of the ship hull to rust which acted as a protective coating during the 3-4 years it takes to get the ship to float.  Before the ship is floated out of the dry dock for final fitting, the rust is brushed off and a new coat of paint applied.

I have decided that with vehicles (and trailers) that it's a different story.  Exhibit A:

The above is the old shock I removed.  It took me 7 hours to replace one, uno, ehud, ein shocko.  Why?  You would never guess this but it was because of surface rust!  It's not the inside rust that falls in your eyes when you are working, it's the surface rust.  It was not the rust on the inside of bolts that inhibited removal of the corresponding nuts, but the surface rust.  In fact, the surface rust was so bad, the threads had distinctive layers parting away from the original base metal causing three peaks instead of the preferred single peak.  I had to hacksaw both the top and the bottom, and then because I didn't cut the bottom close enough, I had to file down the about 7/8" diameter metal rod about 1/8" before I could break the bolt out of the hole.  There was no rust on the inside of the bolt.....that checked out OK.  This was all done on my back, in a parking lot, on a bed of ice.  The nice thing about ice for a shop floor is that your cardboard really slips out from under the car easily...at least until it gets saturated with water.

 This is my new jack that Gracie let me buy to get the job done.  Thank you, Honey!  My 3.5 Ton Napa jack is sweet!

During one of my many resting times....I mean, inspection periods....I got a picture of a random undercarriage shot looking at my emergency parking brake.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  I also broke a gas tank band.  I think that problem was actually due to inside rust in this case, but it broke because I was scraping the surface rust, so I actually attribute the failure to both.

The good thing about all of this is that I now have a great new jack, and my other car that I thought was really rusty is now suddenly seeming very low on the rust scale.  HA!

Rust, auto accidents, tsunamis, earthquakes, drought, famine, and theft.  Nothing lasts in this life.  Where will your soul spend eternity?

What?

Here's a "cuteness of the day" for you:

I was looking at a book with Clara and one page had several different types of birds with their names.  I went through the names and came to "Great Blue Heron".  After I told her the name, the little lady piped up and said something along these lines:

"I don't like those ones.  They kill... they try to kill... they try to kill the baby Jesus."

It took a few seconds for it to dawn on me that "Heron" sounds very similar to "Herod", the king, who did indeed try to kill baby Jesus.

So precious!

Team Color and a P.S.

Some adorable team coloring that was going on this morning!  For some reason, sister didn't seem to mind the "help".  Too precious!  If only it was always like that!  :-)  

And a P.S. to my anniversary post:  Stephanie said in her comment that she hoped me had been able to do something fun for our anniversary.  Yes, indeed we did!  My hubby took me out to a Thai restaurant and we greatly enjoyed a DELICIOUS meal together!  And we took our friends up on the offer to babysit for us... so it was the first unchaperoned date we've had in quite some time!  :-)

The Couples

Stephen captured this preciousness on his phone this evening!  I just HAD to share!  :-)  The little lady really loves to get dressed up.  She's wearing my veil.  And the little man obliged long enough to snap a picture.  

And the parents of that adorable little couple celebrated FIVE years of marriage this past Friday!  FIVE years!  Wow!  Where did the time go???!!!  I have been sooooo incredibly blessed and privileged to be the wife of my Stephen!  Each day I experience his love, faithfulness, patience and leadership!    Stephen, I love and respect you... thank you so much for the honor of being your wife!

A New Year... And A New Look

So a couple nights ago Hil got a new look!  These are phone shots, so not the best quality but they'll still give you an idea.  :-)  Daddy gave him a good buzz.  The new look reminds Stephen of Hil's cousin, Phin! 

 And this ought to bring back memories to my fam... as buzzes are what my brothers always sported when they were younger.

To my friend, Stephanie S., if you're reading this, Clara said Hil looks like Gideon.  :-)  

Happy New Year... From A True Daddy's Girl!

The Snowmen

Two cute snowmen that were out in our yard this morning!  Fun times were had.  The boy actually got into throwing some snow!  :-)  The girl got cold before he did!  

Just Enough...

We were blessed with just enough snow a few days ago to be able to go get our first sled and give it a shot!  The videos are from yesterday afternoon when Stephen took Clara out and gave her the first ever rides.  Hil was napping.  However, this morning I got to take them both out and have some fun!  They both enjoy it!  Hil pretty much doesn't want to do anything but sit there and ride around or watch Clara and I play.  The big bulky snow suit might have something to do with that.   He did a good job of keeping the mittens on... surprise, surprise!  He does think Mommy throwing snow is very funny... unless he gets it in the face!  Enjoy!

I know, it looks like she's headed right into the street... however, there is a good size ditch there to work as a safety block.

Summer Memories

Here are more of those pictures I finally got taken off my camera!  They're old, but thought I would still share some of them!  First two are from our trip to family camp in June.

The rest are from our visit with Grandpa and Grandma M. later in the summer!  They made a long trip out to see us as well as other family along the way.  What a treat!  Enjoy!

Sweet Boy

She Loves Her Daddy

Sittin' with Pop pop

Mom and Dad M. didn't come alone... they brought along this lovely couple who are friends of theirs!

Apple Picking  (We did apple picking and blueberry picking all in one day!)

The Roles I've Been Given

The other day a little girl draped a sheet over her head and told me she was called "Mary".  Then she changed it to "the bride".  Shortly thereafter she went and got me veil from my wedding day and I helped her put it on.  A few minutes later she showed up at my chair, veil on and holding the sheet around her and said "Hey, hey.  I Raechel (her new Auntie whose wedding Clara was just in)."  She then wanted to know if I would be "Uncle Randy".  I obliged for a little while and we walked around and played wedding.  Didn't know that one of the Mommy jobs was playing groom.  :-)

The next day, she was Mary and I was given the role of "Jophis".  :-)

Another thing I've been requested to play lately is "dragons"!

We love that girl!

Part 2 of Randy and Raechel's Wedding

LOVE THIS ONE!  Flower girl and bride on the big day!  

Couple with the groomsmen.  Picture time after the wedding.  

 Randy and Raechel with Raechel's little sister, Abigail, and Clara and Hil

 Four sisters: Anna, Amy, Melissa and me.  We now have three sisters-in-love as well, so there are really SEVEN of us sisters!!!!  I'd love to have a picture of the seven of us!

What a GREAT uncle!  Fun times during clean-up after the wedding.

Clara and Uncle Caleb!

Aunt Melissa and Hil!  As you can see from the pictures, their uncles and aunts invested soooo much time in Clar and Hil during the short visit!  It meant FUN times for the kidos AND a break for Momma and Daddy!  :-)


The wedding was so lovely and visit with the family, such a wonderful treat!  It went so fast, but pictures and memories are such a blessing!  Thank You, Lord!

Finally... Part 1 of R and R's Wedding

After a long wait, we have picture from the camera to share!  As I mentioned before, some sort of a technical problem has developed and we haven't been able to download pictures from the camera to the computer.  We're still haveing the same problem, but I went down the drug store today and used one of the photo kiosks to put a bunch of pictures on photo cds.   So... are you ready for some pictures from the last several months?

We'll start with some that aren't that old, namely, pictures from the end of last month when we traveled to TX for my brother, Randy's wedding to Raechel!  We arrived Tuesday night and Wednesday we met up with the crew.  Randy and Raechel took us to the coffee shop where he surprised her when he came down to TX to ask her to marry him.  After surprising her at the coffee shop, he took her down to the harbor, and that is where he popped the question.  The following pics are from the tour of the harbor area:

Hilkiah and Aunt Anna

 Volleyball lessons from the pros!  Uncle Mark and Uncle Caleb with Clara!

 Now it's Hil's turn.

 The lovely couple of the hour!  Randy and Raechel

 Fun times with Uncle Caleb down at the harbor

 A day or two later, Clara and Aunt Sherry with their "matching shirts"!  Sherry is my brother Mark's lovely bride of almost one year!

Day before the wedding: me and Aunt Margie

The groom-to-be and ring-bearer-to-be.

Me and my lovely sister, Amy

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 Two handsome groomsmen working on the groom's cake: my brother Mark and my dear husband, Stephen

 Finishing touches: Mark

Raechel, the lovely bride!

 Melissa!  My baby sis.

 Flower girl!

Stay tuned for part 2!

Chilly Weather Cuteness

Yes, the weather has turned chilly, and with it comes the cuteness of little ones sporting winter hats!  Daddy captured this preciousness on his phone several days ago!

Welcoming Sabina Kaydence!

Friday night we received a phone call from my sister, Melissa, informing us that our brother, David, and his wife, Amity, had welcomed their precious little one into the outside world!  We were so happy to hear the wonderful news!  Our little niece has the beautiful name of Sabina Kaydence and has a lovely head of dark hair!  Welcome to the family little one!  We're so happy you're here!  And Congratulations David and Amity!!!  She's beautiful!

Our GF Journey: Report 1

So, the beginning of our Gluten Free journey has been a mixed bag.  After getting home from the wedding we began in earnest.  I went out and bought things I'd never bought before, like Xantham Gum, tapioca starch and potato starch.  I also took things that I HAD used before and started milling them into flour... things such as rice, millet and quinoa.

I've learned that crepes are super duper easy to make gluten free and be very happy with the results.  I've learned that yeast bread is NOT.  Thus far I've tried making yeast bread three times and haven't been thrilled with any of the results.  They actually all turned out quite well... none of them were flops... they were just such a far cry from good old wheat bread.  So, that's been the most discouraging part thus far.  Poor Clara even managed to gag herself on my latest loaf.

One of the most encouraging products so far: totally delicious pumpkin cookies that turned out so GREAT!  My man REALLY liked them, which made my day!  Here's the link if someone wants to give it a shot: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/dessertsandsweets/r/glutenfreepumpkincookierecipe.htm.  They were extremely yummy.

Tonight we had muffins made with sorgum, quinoa and corn, and was quite happy with them - encouraging!

We've found a GF pasta that is excellent which, if you know us, was pretty much a necessity if this GF thing is going to last for any length of time.  :-)

So, like I say it's been a mixed bag.  Despite the not-so-great yeast breads, I'm feeling ready to keep going!  It's still a fun and interesting experience!  And it helps that the kids and I have not gone totally GF ourselves, just Stephen.  So though all of our baking is GF as well as cooking that he'll be eating, the rest of us still get our gluten here and there.  :-)

And there you have it, report number 1.

"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!