Updates!

It's time for some little people updates... how they're growing, changing, developing.

Clara, our lovely little lady, is pushing 5 already!   A little lady she sure can be, as she likes to dress up and twirl and dance.  She also has thought and concern for spiritual things.

 A mover and a shaker, would apply pretty well to her too.  She could direct the house hold (or at least try) if we allowed that.  :-)

 She and Hil and spend lots of time playing together, and sometimes she get's bummed when I put Hil down for a nap, saying "But then I won't have any friends."  They're buds. And sometime... they're NOT buds.  :-)

We've been doing some preschool and she's learning!  We don't do a whole lot, but slowly, bit by bit we're making progress.

She's is a dear and is getting to the age where she can be more helpful.  She got out cereal, milk and spoons this morning for breakfast.

Clara is also a good interpreter.  There are times when I'm NOT getting what Hilkiah is saying, but she does.  :-)


Hilkiah is finally clicking with potty training!  Yay!  Makes Mommy happy!  We've got a lot of improving to do, but he's made some huge strides in the last few weeks!

Hil's vocabulary continues to grow and he's becoming quite the little talker!  :-)

He's spends lots of time playing with sis, and has hit the stage of playing imaginary games in a big way!  He can go hunting or take care of babies, or be an injured individual that Doctor Clara is caring for, etc.

He can eat like crazy, putting away almost as much as Mommy or Daddy at times.

He can sure be a handful, but he's got tons of cuteness to make up for it.


Ittai, our sweet little dumpling, is eight months now.  He's not crawling yet, but rolls and scoots and squirms his way around.  He's also sitting pretty well on his own, but will eventually topple over.  

We've started regular solids in the last week or so. He'd been trying stuff here and there before, but he wasn't too impressed and it would generally get pushed back out.  But he's now swallowing it down!  Yay!

Generally, he's a pretty easy little guy, and can keep himself pretty busy for good lengths of time playing with and chewing on toys.   


We're so blessed to have these three precious gifts from the Lord!

More From the Trip

Grandpa and his boy.

Happy Birthday Aunt Amy!  (I'll add here, that my dad also had his birthday when we were out there, and Clara wanted to give him a gun for his birthday!)  :-)

Uncle Josh with a niece and nephew.

Cousins!

LOVE this shot!  Some priceless smiles there!!!

Sister outing!

Helping Uncle Josh with the garden!

One of the great blessings of this trip was that my brother David and his wife Amity had there second daughter two days before I left!  So, I got to meet sweet Anika Carmicheal before I left!

Clara showing off her "big" tummy!

 I'll add here that Clara loved "helping" Grandpa in his office and garage (which are affectionately dubbed "the salt mines").  One time she was answering her imaginary phone and would say "Hello, this is the salt mines".  :-)

Us with the Family!

The camera battery and charger arrived and now, here are some pictures from the trip to see my family!  I think this one of my Mom and Ittai is lovely!

Aunt Melissa and Ty

I got to meet my sweet niece, Sabina, for the first time on this trip.  Here she is "holding" Ty.

Hilkiah and Uncle David

Another one that is simply lovely!  Clara and Aunt Amy

 Playing with "Uncle Wany" (Randy)

Me and my dear Dad!

More coming soon, Lord willing!

The trip home...

 My battery and charger are in the mail... so I'll soon be sharing pictures from the camera of our time in CA with my family.  However, for now, here are some great ones from the very end of the trip.  My dear Mom, drove us down to LA and we were reunited with my dear hubby, who we hadn't seen in four weeks!  Here are some shots of us while waiting for our train to leave for the trip home.

 A sweet lady we met who held Ty for a little while.

Following this, we had a 20-something hour trip home on the train.  The train really is a great way to travel.

We're settling in here back at "the homestead".  We have had a round of sickness going through the ranks... mostly the little people ranks.

We've enjoyed some lovely spring weather, and the bulbs are coming up!  We're also dreaming about spring planting... more on that later!

Home Again

Well, we are indeed home again, after a lovely visit to my family and friends in my home town.  For four weeks we got to see people I hadn't seen in over two years, make to visits to the beach, go ice skating, meet  two dear nieces, do a little shopping, get treated to a visit to a tea house, have a girls coffee outing, be present for my Dad's, Amy's, and Josh's birthdays, eat at In-N-Out :-), and mostly just spend a lot of time with friends and family.  What treats!  The time went by quickly!  Thank to each dear family member and friend who did so much to give us an enjoyable time!

I left the charger for our camera batteries behind... so it may be a little bit before I post pictures from the visit... but Lord willing, I'll be sharing some before long!

The other day someone asked Clara about whether she was glad to be home.  She said "Yeah.  But now I miss my California family."

My People

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G and the kids are in CA visiting Grandma and Grandpa F.  So I am alone for another week.  I have been trying to get some things done around the house to pass the time and be productive.  One of the things on my list is to post.  Because I figure that if I am getting tired of the lack of new posts, then our miriad of fans are probably about to boycott.  So below are some of the pics that G has sent to help me get a fix.

 

These are the kids waking up in the morning.  I would guess that if this pic was taken -10min prior, then the girl would have had her thumb in her mouth.  The boys like their passies.  I know some parents my age that trained without passie, but we are not that good yet.

 

 

Here is Ty expressing his gratitude for some time on the swing.  Chunky boy. 

 

I wanted to add a picture of my girl.  I miss her super much.  Don't you think she's really pretty without makeup?  I heard this line from an older, wiser man:  "I tell people that the kids got my looks because my wife still has hers.  hahaha!"  True in our case, esp. for all of their noses. 

 

 

The Happy Couple!  :-)

Sweetness.

The girl set up her office, on one of our bedside tables, so the boy....

... set up his too.  The "office" is great... but the boy himself cracks me up!  :-)

 And a cute one of the little man!


Well, it's a busy day around here!  Packing, tidying, and last minute this and that.  Lord willing, tomorrow morning, dark and early, Grandma F., three kiddos and myself will be climbing onto a train, headed out west for a good long visit!  It'll be an adventure!  And my Mom is here to help with the travels... and she's been a big help with final preparations too!

Abiding Radio

When I walked into my friend's house a few days back I noticed the lovely music she had playing.  She told me it was "Abiding Radio" and you listen online.

Since then, I've been blessed with the beautiful, God-honoring music in my own house!  When you go to listen you can pick Sacred, Instrumental, Seasonal, or Kids.  Check it out!   Abiding Radio

A Step Back In Time

 I mentioned a while back that my brother and sister, Josh and Amy, and a couple friends of theirs had come by for a visit.  That was about TWO months ago now... and I'm finally posting some pictures!  Enjoy!

And a cute one at the end of a girl and her brother!

A Huge Blessing!

After a while of our computer being out of commission ... it is now up and running again, thanks to the efforts of multiple people!  What a blessing!  We were also blessed to be able to use Ravi's laptop in the mean time.  Now that our's is up and going again, here are some of the most recent snaps from around here.  Enjoy!

This picture was snapped by big brother!  :-)

Last night we had a "one-day-early" celebration of my handsome man's "Happy Day".  We had dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, Win, and Ravi.  It was an enjoyable evening!  And what a joy and privilege to get to celebrate another birthday with my Love!

A Look Into Our Day: For Monday, January 21

"Ism" of the Day: Today it's a Hilkiah - ism and it's a conversation we had on our walk back from the playground:

H "Why that kid ride the bike?"

Me "I don't know"

H "Why that kid ride the bike?"

Me "It's not a kid it's a lady" (Looked like a Grandma)

H "Why that kid ride a bike?"

Me "I don't know.  It wasn't a kid it's a lady."

H  " Why that lady ride a bike?"

Me "I don't know.  Maybe she wanted to go somewhere."

H "Why she want to go somewhere?"

Me  " I don't know.  Maybe she wanted to go to the store or something."

H "Why go to store?"

Yep.  We've reached THAT stage!  Our hearts, brains and patience may have a new way to be stretched in the next few months!

A Blessing from the Lord:  Sunshine after a cloudy morning.

Challenge:  A particular one of my kidos seeming to fuss and cry today, just about every time I turn around.

I Was Encouraged By:  The book "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee.  There were parts that really jumped out to me!

Clara Enjoyed:  Going to the playground... after we turned around, went back to the house and got her more thoroughly bundled up for the freezing weather.

Hil Enjoyed:  Playground!

Food For Thought:  "'In thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9): we shall know something; we shall be clear about something; we shall see.  No turning within, no introspective self-examination will ever bring us to that clear place.  No, it is when there is light coming from God that we see.

I think it is so simple.  If we want to satisfy ourselves that our face is clean, what do we do?  Do we feel it carefully all over with our hands?  No, of course not.  We find a mirror and we bring it to the light.  In that light everything becomes clear.  No sight ever came by feeling or analyzing   Sight only comes by the light of God coming in; and when once it has come, there is no longer need to ask if a thing is right or wrong.  We know.....

"'The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple' (Psalm 119.130 A.V.)"

Watchman Nee  "The Normal Christian Life"

I need to be reminded constantly to fix my eyes on Christ.  I'm one who is so tempted to fix my eyes on myself.... analyzing my thoughts, feelings, motives.  Way too much introspection!!!  Lord, help me fix my eyes on You and may Your light shine into every part of my life and chase away all the sin and darkness!

Recent cuteness

Hilkiah, decked out in his Daddy's hard hat and proclaiming with spirit "I ah Fiah, Fiah, Fiah."  I think "Fire Fighter" may have been the idea!

Mom M. popped by today.  We live in the home that had been Mom and Dad's since Stephen was a boy... so a long time!  Apparently, Clara doesn't understand that, because she invited her Grandma to come out back with "You want to see our back yard?  It's huge."  :-)

Our hearts were blessed by this song...

A Special Day

My dear husband and I celebrated six years of marriage this last weekend.  What a privilege, joy, and truly a treat it has been to be Stephen's wife.

Our anniversary plans came about rather last minute... but turned out to be a very lovely time.  Stephen took me out to lunch while Mom and Dad M. watched the kids for us.  Later on in the afternoon, Mom and Dad dropped off the kidos and we took them to a local motel where we had booked a room and we enjoyed a wonderful evening of relaxing, spending time in the pool and hot tub, watching some TV, playing some games with the kidos, reading and chatting.  The next morning we even enjoyed a room service breakfast.... a truly unusual treat for us!

What a special time we all had.

A Matter Of The Heart...

A little girl was having a good time looking at my lovely new artisan bread book.  She was pointing out breads that looked good to her. Along the way we had a little talk, part of which went something like this.

Clara: "Punkin...Punmpkin..."

Me: "Pumpkin."

Clara: "Pumpkin bread. You can mix cranberries in it"

Me: "Yes. That's right. Did someone tell you that?"

Clara: "It was just in my heart."

News and Blessings

Another quick update on us and what's been happening around here.  Still don't have our computer problem dealt with, so I'll wait to share pictures... I've got some good ones!!!!

  We've been so blessed to get to spend Christmas and New Years Eve with Stephen's folks, and what a lovely  time we've had.  Christmas Eve we did a pie bake off, had lunch and supper together, and did gifts in the evening.  Christmas day we had a lovely Mediterranean meal and spent more time visiting and relaxing.

Today, New Years Eve, we got a lovely white blanket of snow... about six inches or so of it.  Beautiful.  Clara had lots of fun out there playing and getting pulled around in the sled by Ravi, the young guy who is staying with us.

Mom, Dad, Heather, and Grandma Deemer were here for supper.  The meal was a joint venture.  Heather and Mom did DELICIOUS quiches.  We did toasted bread with an artichoke spread, tomato, capers and a little bit of salmon.  Berry crisp was dessert.  All was followed by tea around the wood stove... and thanks to the wood stove no body was cold... quite the opposite!  :-)

And Lord willing, the kids and I will be getting to spend a whole month catching up with most of my family in  Feb. / Mar.!  What a treat!!!

2012 has been another year full of challenges and blessings.  One of the most obvious blessings was our move here to Kansas.  Stephen GREATLY enjoys working with Dad M. and being near his parents has been such a treat for all of us!  August 15 was a big day of blessing... when our little Ittai was born quickly and, thanks to the Lord's protection, safely into the outside world.  We also got visits from friends and quite a few of my wonderful family members!

The Lord Jesus has been so good to us.  We don't deserve it.  One of my prayers for this coming year will be that I grow in faith and learn to have my eyes and heart fixed on Him!

Unless He returns before, have a blessed New Year!

Well, it's been too long since the last post. So, for a quick update and some pieces of news from these parts.

Last week we were so blessed to have two groups of wonderful company, as I mentioned in the last post.  Hopefully, we'll have our computer difficulties fixed soon and I'll share some pictures.  Thank you to each one for making the effort to stop and see us on your trips home.  You were a blessing!  Look for pictures soon!

We got snow a couple nights ago which, as you can probably imagine, was a rather positive event in this household.  :-)

Ittai rolled over earlier this week for the first time!  He continues to be a joy.  His smiles and squeals  are so fun.  And that way he smiles and looks at you like he just likes you a lot could just melt your heart. He enjoys it when Clara and Hil play with him... and they enjoy it too!  You should hear him squealing.  When both baby and big sibling are having fun, it's hard for Mommy to know when to say something or calm things down and protect the little guy. They're both having a great time and you don't want to stop them from playing with little brother, but......

Ok, now for a Hilkiah line.  When it's getting to be meal time, but things aren't yet ready, Hil will often eagerly jump the gun and start calling people to the table with "Suppee Time!"  And lunch can be "suppee time" too!

Dressed Up and a Full Week

This is what our fine little gentleman was looking like today!  :-)

If all goes as planned, this will be a busy week... in a very good way!  My brother and sister are scheduled to arrive here tomorrow morning, along with a couple frineds.  They are traveling home from a one semester school and we are one of a couple stops along the way!  Yay!  They should be here until Thursday!  Then Friday evening we have some friends stopping by, who are also traveling home!  They should be here for part of the weekend!  What a treat of a week!