War, Peace, and Peaches

Sometimes, life just leaves you saying "Huh?"  Not in a bad way, but sometimes things are just too random, and too funny to pass up sharing.......ok here goes....






Maddy, my 14 year old, has chosen to read War and Peace, the whole 1213 pages of it.  Chosen, mind you.  I didn't assign it, it's her summer reading.  I haven't read it, Dan tried to read it when he was in high school, never finished.  I'm about to be surpassed by my daughter, ain't it grand?  :-)  Love that!





This afternoon, I was standing in the kitchen slurping while peach juices ran down my chin, as I was savoring the amazing yumminess of my first white peach of the summer.  Oh my! Peach perfection!!  So, as I often do, I started singing, (to the tune of "Deck the Halls", no, I don't know why...) "Tis the season for awesomely yummy fabulously juicy peaches, ....yum, yum, yum...yum yum....yum, yum...yum...yum  I just had one would you like one too?"  and Cait  walks in from taking the trash to the road and recycling, and picks up the tune with "I don't  have a bag big enough for the yard waste.......I don't know what IIIII'm supposed to do"    I know, I guess you had to be there, watching my sixteen year old and I making up musical conversation in the kitchen to truly appreciate how goofy our family really is.  We love to laugh!    I'm sooo thankful for them!!


Peaches $.88 lb
Trash bags $4.99
Laughing so hard I almost snorted peach juice out my nose with my daughter......priceless

May your day be blessed with laughter....

Only Because of Jesus,


anne


Pictures are courtesy of google images...

Been Gone Too Long......

I've been trying to, meaning to come back to blogging for months now.....life always seems to be getting in the way.  My first attempt was on Samuel's birthday......January 18th!  It went something like this....

It's me.  I'm back, still weary, but so very encouraged by all of your comments on my last post!!!  I'm in tears....thank you soooo much!!!  You have no idea how much I needed to read those dear words from you amazing ladies.....absolutely no idea......thank you doesn't seem like it even touches it.......but, since they're the only words I can come up with at the moment, THANK YOU will have to do...... :-)


Tuesday was Samuel's 2nd birthday, he's currently obsessed with all things "Toy Story", namely Woody and Buzz.  So, the girls and I found little cowboy boots on clearance at WalMart of all places, and a little cowboy hat.  Cait found him some Buzz Lightyear jammies on clearance and bought them for his gift from her.  So, now, his greatest joy is running around the house in his Buzz jammies, cowboy boots and cowboy hat making vrooom!!  noises!  It's entirely too cute!!  He's such a boy, I just LOVE that!!!!  



     I saved it to my drafts until I had time to put some pictures with it, and, guess what?  I never posted it!!  As you could surmise, I was kinda overwhelmed the last time I posted.  I'm still overwhelmed, but, by the grace of God, I'm not drowning and exhausted, I have hope.  Not because of anything that's happening outwardly.   No, if I looked and dwelled on that, well, I'd be sunk by now!  No, my hope is in God.  He has never left, even though, at times, He seems far away.   He is good.  He has sent these fires to burn away the excess stuff that isn't of Him.  I'm blessed.  This winter was hard.  I'm sorry to all of you that I just completely withdrew from.  When I get so emotionally overwhelmed that I don't know what else to do, I tend to become quiet, and withdraw.  Thank you for bearing with me.....for continuing to pray for me......I can assure you, I continued to pray for you. You are definitely no less precious to me.

     Let's see....updates....my Daniel continues to slowly get worse.  In March, the vasculitis caused what could best be described as a localized "stroke" in his left eye leaving him legally blind in that eye, and that was his dominant eye.  So, he wears an eye patch all the time now, and looks rather roguish and we call him Redbeard the Pirate. The girls are all trying to parlay this new look into getting a parrot, because, every pirate needs a parrot, don't ya know?  Bonne chance, mes cheris!
     He's less steady on his feet and we need to have someone of adult size here all the time to help if need be.  Cait and Maddy have been stars in this area, always ready to help their Dad.  The younger ones are always ready with a hug or to read to him.  I miss doing things as a whole family, and I keep praying for healing.....but he is an amazing example to all of us.  My sweet Daniel doesn't whine, doesn't complain, makes statements of fact about how he's doing, and moves on.  He says this allows him to pray.  He's not distracted by other things, and he has a very rich prayer life.  He does the children's sermon from his wheelchair at church, or leads Communion.  He's amazing in his humility and his trust that God is doing something good in all this awfulness,and by his example we all believe it too.  Did I mention I love this man? :-)


I've borrowed some pictures from my dear friend Candice.....she and her wonderful family were here visiting from Michigan this month, and, even though it's never long enough, I'm so glad we got to see you guys, we miss you!!!  These are some shots she took while they were here of Sam and Clara......
(She took some awesome shots of the other kids too, but, I only have time to add these today...more later!)




Ya gotta love it when his sisters allow the 2 year old to choose his own clothes for the day........maybe separately.....but not together......lol!










Those beatific blue eyes are a gift from God......for Sam, I mean.  He bats those baby blues, and his sisters decide not to sell him to the gypsies after all when he's just colored on their favourite book........:-)






The "Are ya ready for some football" arrrrrggghhhhhhh!  look.....














Even the energizer bunny tires out eventually.....





Clara, the perfect little lady.........all dresses, and twirls.......with an incredibly clever sense of humor....just like her sisters and brother....cheeky to the core!

I'll post more soon.......Blessings.....



Only Because of Jesus,

anne

Just Read the Lyrics......

Read the lyrics to this familiar carol.....forget the tune for a minute, just read the lyrics......

I Heard the Bells
on Christmas Day

by Hen­ry W. Long­fel­low, 1864

I heard the bells
on Christmas day

Their old familiar
carols play,

And wild and sweet
the words repeat

Of peace on earth,
good will to men.

And thought how,
as the day had come,

The belfries of all
Christendom

Had rolled along
the unbroken song

Of peace on earth,
good will to men.

Till ringing,
singing on its way

The world revolved
from night to day,

A voice, a chime,
a chant sublime

Of peace on earth,
good will to men.

And in despair
I bowed my head

"There is no peace
on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong
and mocks the song

Of peace on earth,
good will to men.

Then pealed the bells
more loud and deep:

"God is not dead,
nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail,
the right prevail

Of peace on earth,
good will to men.

 

This song is really speaking to me today.....D is getting worse......don't know why, don't know where or if the decline will stop.  When he wrote this, Longfellow had just received news that his son had been killed.  I can see his whole grief process.....and yet he comes back to, "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail of peace on earth, good will to men."  I guess the part that is REALLY shouting to me today is, "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep"....He's NOT dead, He's NOT sleeping, He's in control, and I have to trust that, "the wrong shall fail, the right prevail".  In other words, I need to have faith.  Longfellow didn't have some crystal ball that told him that everything would be alright, he DID have the Word of God, and he DID trust that the promises are true, and he DID know that God is who He says He is, despite our circumstances.  I know that too.....really, I do.  I guess I just need to be reminded when I'm wondering.........when I'm weary of this road that seems to stretch on forever, full of obstacles I'm just too tired to climb over anymore.  I know that He's with me when I'm just too weary to go on.  Seems to be a theme today.  Weariness.  I wish I had some sage, well spoken blurb to spout, but I don't.  I'm walking along with just enough light for the step I'm on, trusting that He knows the way and He has my back.   That's pretty much it from here......

Blessings to you and yours.......

Merry Christmas!!

Only Because of Jesus,

anne

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say........

 UNTIL I HAD A BOY..............

 


 Caught in the Act.....





Busted!!!!  (For the record, the t-shirt was a gift from a very funny dear friend of  mine....ok, Mary, you've been immortalized on the blog..... lol! :-)


Ok, now that you see just a taste of what kind of cheeky wee monkey he is,  some things I never in a million years thought would come out of my mouth.........



"No, Samuel, Woody doesn't want to walk in the poop, neither does Bob!!"  (Said while trying to change a very poopy nappy....)

"Yayyyyyy!!  Sir Samuel of Poopsalot has slain the evil cricket with his sword!!" 


"Let's go through this again, I am NOT Rapunzel, nor a jungle gym, and my hair is NOT your own personal leverage system!"

"Dude, the high chair tray is NOT your own personal surf board...."


"Ewwwwww!  Oh come on Samuel, stop licking the floor!!"


"Son, everything is NOT a football......"

"Son, dancing on the table is something you save for drunken college parties that I want to know nothing about......."  (that one was said out of earshot of any of the other kids.....:-)

"Sam, ladies don't view whacking as form of affection, pretty soon your cuteness factor will wear off and they WILL whack you back.......somehow, then, I don't think you'll think is so funny...."

I could go on......raising this boy is funny, challenging (he's full into the serious temper tantrum stage), and most of the time, just plain fun!  I'm sure I have more of these.....do any of you have some?  Boys are such a blast!  May your weekend be blessed....

Only Because of Jesus,

anne

When You Give a Sam a Haircut......

I know, I know, I'm really drawing it out between posts, but, life is extremely busy right now with some home renovations going on, (more on that later) living in limbo while trying to use this opportunity to clean out a bunch of junk.  So, I thought, I'd start things off by showing you the magnificent oaks in our front garden.  I just looovveee autumn, I think maybe I've said that before, but it bears repeating.  Fall ROCKS!!! 
Chaos indoors, but all I have to do is look outside my front door, and I see this....






Isn't it spectacular????  I mean really......gorgeous!!!!  It just feeds my soul. 

     Now, with that stunning start, what, you ask, could I possibly follow with that would top that?  True, but, what that shot is with awe factor, the following shots are with awwwwwwww factor....... 

     Sam got his first haircut last month.  I was trying to save $$$  that we don't have, by doing it myself.  Well, a wiggly 20 month old boy, coupled with Mum used to trimming folks willing to sit still equals, well, a haircut just like Daddy's!! 
      Here's the before.....




Here it comes.....



Wait for it......


Wait for it.............


Ta DA!!!!!!




He looks like such a little boy now....sniff.....sniff......I know he IS a little boy, but, the baby boy is passing into memory.......sniff......oh heck, who am I kidding ???  He just looks adorable!!! 

He's also been spotted doing this lately.......






He fights sleep for sooo long and then just gives in and leans over the first convenient spot, and conks out.....too cute, ok, and too funny!!!









It would appear to be that time of day again.....may your day be blessed.....and your dreams be sweet....


Only Because of Jesus,

anne

Mmmmmm.... Fall

 

Elly when she was 3.  My friend Valerie, awesome photographer chic, took this......I love how she captured Elly being herself....

Wow, has it been that long already?  I haven't been here in over a month, and I have sooo much to say and so little time!  I'll be posting before and after pictures soon, so be on the look out, and that's all I'm gonna say about that.... :-)  I did find a couple of pictures of Elly and Maddy that my awesome photographer chic friend took when they were much smaller.....where has the time gone.....the following two were taken at our church's Reformation Day party....loads of fun!!  



Maddy was 5 (she's now 13) and she was a magical monarch butterfly that year, this is one of my favorite shots of her....



Elly was 3 (she's now 10) and she was the little lion with her blankie, too cute for words!!!




     Today, I'm baking my first loaf of pumpkin bread of the season.  As a lover of pumpkin anything, our family recipe for pumpkin bread is the best I've ever tasted!! (Not that I'm at all biased or anything........lol!) I made some changes a few years ago, and the kids couldn't even taste the difference, so we kept em'.  I reduced the sugar by 1 cup, and used applesauce instead of the cup of oil, white whole wheat flour instead of white flour,  and, since we like our pumpkin bread spicy, I upped the spices a bit.  Yummmm, with a cup of pumpkin spice coffee, it's the epitome of fall yumminess!!!



"Healthy" Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 c white whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur or Trader Joe's)
2 t baking soda
2 c succanat or sugar
1 c water
4 eggs or 1 cup egg beaters (for the 2pt per slice calculation, use egg beaters, but it turns out yummy either way :-)
1 c unsweetened applesauce
1 can pumpkin (around 1 3/4 - 2 cups of pumpkin puree)
1 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
Dash of ground ginger
2 t cinnamon
1 c chopped nuts (optional)


Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix well ( all in one bowl).  Pour batter into two loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake at 350 F for around 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from pans immediately, and place on rack to cool.  Can be served warm with butter, or we just like it plain.  Somtimes we even have it for breakfast with cream cheese.  Enjoy!!!  (for those of you on Weight Watchers, the recipe has been run through the points calculator, and it's 2 points per slice of a 10 slice loaf...just fyi :-) 


 




     I just love pulling out my great grandmother's mixing bowl, and making the same recipes I imagine she would've made, this unassuming bowl is one of my dearest possessions.  I love the feel of it, the weight of it , even the color of it.  I remember using it when I was a kid, and my Mum and I mixing this recipe, using this bowl.  Amazing that.  Now, I'm doing the same with my daughters, my little sous chefs, always wanting to help, to stir, to create......just like their Mama.....and their Nana.......generations of women creating for their families, making home.....well....home.  



 








    Autumn is my absolute favorite season.....I plan to rock it out this year!!  May your lovely autumn day be blessed....


Only Because of Jesus,


anne