pregnancy calendar

Friday, October 31, 2008

Two celebrations

Today celebrates two events:

~This is my dear nephew T's second birthday! We miss you and love you! I can hardly believe it has been two years since I was on the phone listening "live" to his birth. There were complications and little T was not breathing when born, so there were many prayers being lifted up to heaven. The Lord was very merciful and our precious baby was just fine. He is a blessing to us all! Happy Birthday, little sweetie!

~Today is also Reformation Day. This is the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 theses proclaiming salvation is a free gift from God, not of men's works. What a heritage we have in the Lord's shining His light into the darkness and proclaiming the gospel of His grace.

Very busy next several days ahead...tomorrow we are having some friends out to celebrate B's birthday. Then in the evening we are going to a surprise 18th party for some friends. Next week we are gearing up for my beloved in-laws to come for a long awaited visit!! :)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Happy Birthday!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DEAR LITTLE B! We love you so much!

Last night B and I went on a special daughter/mommy date. We went to a fancy restaurant and she had prime rib! Then she got to pick out her very own doll. She had requested one that "talked" or made some kind of baby movements. So she got a sweet baby named Darla, who says "Mama", giggles, crys, sucks her bottle, burps, and snores when she sleeps. Does this make me a grandma?

Today she got to go along with me for my routine kidney ultrasound (no problems, Praise the Lord!) And now she is doing school. But, she does not have to do any chores all day. We will have a little family birthday party tonight before we head off to church, and then Saturday we are having several families over as well.

B was my first homebirth and I have so many memories of that day. I had been sitting with my grandmother in the hospital, on the way home I realized I was having contractions. They continued through the evening and my midwife arrived around bedtime. My labor with B was one of the harder ones, and I labored all night long. But, I had the best midwife, I could have had. (I miss you Cathy!) And at daybreak my dear daughter (my first girl!) was born into the world. B was like a perfect little china doll...the most delicate little perfect features. She is still our little butterfly, full of energy and life. We love you, darling. Happy Birthday! You are a gift from God to us!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Funny Video

Thursday, October 23, 2008

A Taste of Fall


Homemade Applesauce!
(Also, did you know that my children think I am such a great mom for letting them have apple crisp for breakfast?
Shhh, don't tell them it is good for them! :>) )

Our Uncle...


Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Documents!











I am sitting here at the library...after two tries at home of uploading the slideshow below, I decided to bring my laptop with us to the library this afternoon. My husband found the microfilms of his relatives that found in the War between the States for the Confederate Army. He is looking at them and printing them out...they are the documents that prove that his great-great-great uncle, and his great-great grandfather were enlisted. How cool is that???

Slideshow

Here is the slideshow of our time with my dear brother. The music is from "The Sounds of the Rocky Mountains" and the song is called, "Colors of Autumn". Even though, we weren't in the Rockies, I thought it was fitting. :>)

My Brother and Dad


Wonderful Week!




We have had such a wonderful last week. The communion season and all the fellowship that came along with it was so rich. The Lord has done great things for us.


Having my brother here this past week was so wonderful. Even yesterday as he left, he commented how quickly the time past. We did many things with him. The night before he left when B realized that her "Lala" (this has been what the children have always called him) was leaving she started to cry. They were trying to figure out ways that she could go back with him. She was prepared to bring her toys to the car dealership with my brother. :) We now miss him very much.


On Monday we were able to go to the mountains for our fall leaves tour. We went along the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw spectacular examples of the Lord's creative work. We picnicked by the side of a beautiful river (my brother even got a little nap in there as you will see in the slideshow) We went alongside Grandfather Mountain and hiked. That evening, as we were coming down the mountain we picked apples at an orchard that hung off the side, it seemed. It was the perfect fall day, I thought. Crystal clear blue skies, nippy, crisp weather, but not too cold. Lovely, gorgeous day. To top it off we went out to dinner before heading home. We did not get home till around 11pm. Exhausted, but refreshed from our wonderful day! Our friends the W family got to go along with us (well, the mama and girls did, their daddy had to work). It happened to be my friend's bday, so we got to enjoy it with her. S and I, my dad and my brother got some great pictures, so I will be posting a slideshow.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Another Remembrance --OCT 18th

It is a very busy, but blessed weekend, lots of fruitful fellowship and company and communion season at our church. (Grandma, I will have to catch up with you another time, since I did not call you today...but I LOVE YOU!) But, I did not want the day to end without acknowleging the hand of God in another "remembrance" of His dealings with us. How many mercies we have daily! I am posting below an email my mother wrote recapping the events that happened a decade ago, today. I have taken out our immediate family's names as I usually do for privacy sake here on the blog. I hope each of you have a blessed weekend....
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Today is October 18th. 10 years ago today a tropical storm came over Brookshire Texas and brought (I think it was) 24 inches of rain in just a few hours. Our home, along with many others flooded. In the early morning hours while we slept flood waters filled our country piece of tranquility and surrounded our home with water. At around 4:15 a.m. our outside dog was heard howling and woke me up. As I took a flash light out the dining room window all I could see was water surrounding us like we were in the middle of a lake. The very large dog house that Jonathan and dad had made was floating with the dog chained to it. Pepper was drowning. Jim went into the flood waters to save our dog, not knowing he was putting his own life in serious danger. Our outside cats had crawled up underneath the house to get up out of the water but they would drown.

J and S were staying in our Airstream travel trailer several feet away from our home. When I looked out the window I could see water was already over the belly of the trailer and I was sure they had been electrocuted. The Airstream was made of aluminum and the electrical cord was laying on the ground plugged into an extension, which was now under water. My breath was instantly taken away and what I can remember most were the words "If thou hast taken my children away Lord, please prepare my heart". As I looked out at the darkness with the reflection of the water being slightly seen I felt the hand of God in His mercy over the waters and the fear left my heart. I picked up the phone to call J and S. JD was only a baby and was sleeping in a porta crib low to the floor of the trailer. J was pregnant with W. As the phone rang lights went on inside the trailer and I heard S's voice say "MamaMo, I walked in water o get to the phone and I am standing on a chair". "We are flooding S, get J and JD and come over here", was all I must have said. They carried JD and waded through the water to us. The same water where the extension cord was laying beneath. By this time Patti, Jonathan and I were trying to figure out how to keep the things inside of our home dry if water should come in and what to take if we left. We carried things upstairs, and threw some things into bags.

As we all prayerfully talked of what to do we futilely put pans from the kitchen under our furniture legs and laid dressers on top of the beds. I guess our thoughts were that only an inch or so of water might come in, when in reality just about everything would go under water. Jim, Jonathan and S secured several items outside and attempted to save vehicles. Jim's company car was already under water. All the while, little JD was eating cookies in his high chair totally unaware of what was going on. Jonathan was in his glory enjoying every minute; Jim and S were experiencing new floods of adrenalin every few minutes and the females were "busy, busy" too. The waters were rising very quickly and when it crested the door way, (which was already almost 3 feet above the ground) it was determined we had to leave. Each of us was escorted out one at a time by the men. Because of the force of the rapidly flowing water it was all I could do to hold onto S as he took me out, he really held me. The rapid, cold, deep and dark flood waters along with the rain soaked every inch of our clothing. I think each of us has their own memories of walking through those flood waters and how it felt. The chemically polluted, fire ant floating, snake infested, very cold, dark water is something that stays within in the memory.

We assisted our neighbors and watched as they held their new, little baby over their heads and fled their home as well. As we all got into the van the men realized they couldn't see where the road was. Lightening was flashing, thunder was screaming and they had to stand outside, one on each side of the road "feeling" their way with their feet. We were in the middle of a lake in the dark but got to the top of the road. As we were assessing things we discovered that little JD was still grasping his cookie tightly in his hand. Soaking wet and cold we gave thanks to God for our preservation and thankfully made it to my mothers apartment in a near by town. Jonathan was "on fire" for what was happening and the rest of us were still experiencing the goodness of the Lord in sparing us while being a little "in shock" I think. As we watched the television coverage of the flooding at my mother's it was decided that the men would go back and see what they could salvage. They managed to float a few items of clothing out in coolers but most everything was lost.

The months that followed could be a story all in themselves. However the Lord's sparing of our grandson, JD's life will always remain deep within my heart. He was sleeping only a few inches off the floor as the water was rapidly rising. If the Lord had not had our dog chained to his dog house and whimpering and whining enough to wake me up, I am convinced that JD would have drowned in the early morning hours without J and S even hearing him. Beyond that, there are so many tragic things that "could" have happened during those hours or the hours to follow. Jonathan was only 10 and was so involved with everything that he too could have become a tragedy with his electric energy and desire to be with and do just as the men.

As I have been typing this one of the things I have been thinking about is that all of the "outward" happenings of this life really have one purpose from the Lord our creator. His purpose is to tame and subdue the heart of man to His son Christ Jesus. The land, the weather and all the world are things man has been trying to tame and subdue to himself for all of time. But, the truth is that man may as well try to subdue the wind as his own heart apart from the grace that flows from the blood of Christ. I recently read that when the Lord takes something out of our left hand, we should grab hold of Christ more firmly with our right. That the trials, afflictions and difficulties are His gift to us to wean us from the world, sin and our own hearts. What a gift He gave us 10 years ago with so many treasures and jewels to be thought upon and meditated over again and again. Christ, it was all Christ, seen in every drop of the water, and every flash of lightening, and heard in the mighty roar of the thunder. Today, October 18th, 2008 as we gather with our friends for some target practice, the "roar" and "boom" of the guns are going to remind me of the treasures of October 18th, 1998. The Lord is good and His mercy endureth forever!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Tuesdays Tidings

I wrote this yesterday and blogger was acting up and it did not post. So here is an update of our very busy life. I am still here, many of you have not heard from me personally, but we are here and doing well. :)...
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Life has been very, very full lately...



This past weekend we went to a wonderful homeschool conference in Shelby, NC. A family from our church (the W family) came and spent 4 nights at our home and attended the conference as well. We felt greatly encouraged by the fellowship and the sessions at the conference. The Maxwell family, who led the conference have a blog, in which they put up pictures that included some of our family. Click HERE to see them. One is R posing with one of the daughters. There also is a pic of S talking to Steve Maxwell (you will see my dh's back). It was a blessing to be able to attend, I have wanted to go to one of their conferences for a long time. I am thankful the Lord opened the doors for us to go.



Last night, my mom and dad volunteered to watch all 8 children (our 6+the W family's 2) and let the four of us go out on a double date. It was a REAL treat! So, this morning, our church friends returned to their home, and I began earnest preparations for my next guest....my BROTHER! We are so happy to have my dear bro here for a whole week. There was lots of eagerness in the air today as we got things ready. The children made cards, and welcome signs (W even wrote a poem for my brother). We also put saran wrap up around our gate, so when my m and d drove up with my brother they had to break through the cellephane. :) Tonight there has been much excitement and showering of love on J. We have not seen him in so long. It is good to have him here.



This week we will be busy with my brother, as well as regular school, etc. Then we gear up for more guests this weekend. On Sat. S has been putting together a "gun shoot" with several families coming over around noonish. It should be quite an adventure. :)



Then our communion season starts for our church, with a meeting on Saturday evening, as well as the two services on the Lord's Day. We will be hosting our dear friends, the M family for the weekend. It will be a rich time. Lord's Day evening, the house will be full. The M family, the W family, Mr. Travis, Jane, my brother, all hope to spend the evening at our home, and many of them hope to spend the night here. Rich, rich fellowship!



Then Monday is our "Fall Leaves Holiday". We are planning a trip to the mountains with my bro, my parents and part of the W family. We are hoping to hit it right at the peak of the fall colors as we head up to see the beauty of the Blue Ridge at this time of year.



Tuesday is when my brother is flying back to Co. I know the week will fly by. It's amazing how quickly time is passing by. My brother, a grown man now. My children are now, where he was just a few short years ago. They will be 20 before I blink my eyes. I am thankful for this time.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Remembering...

The Lord reminded me this morning of an anniversary that is tomorrow for me. It is a sad one, but Ecclesiastes refers to there being more profit in times of sadness then even in times of joy. Tomorrow, Oct. 11, is the day that my dear baby Siete was born. For those of you that have not known the story. I was pregnant back in Tx. There had been concern over this precious babe from the beginning, but an ultrasound revealed a precious heartbeat, that was so special for even our children to see. We always keep the new baby's name a secret till S names the child at birth, therefore we referred to him as "Baby Siete" (spanish for 7). But, as time passed, within a couple of weeks it became apparent that something was not right. Another ultrasound revealed his little lifeless form, without a heartbeat this time. I asked the Lord if He would allow me to see our precious son. He marvelously answered that prayer.

Baby Siete was born at a little over 9 weeks. Formed as a perfect 7 week old baby. You have seen the awesome pictures in the books. Our dear son looked perfectly like that. The Lord gave me a windows view into the womb. He was still floating in his little sac, with the umbilical cord attached. Steven had to cut his little cord. We wept as his little eyes came into view as he was gently taken from his sac. Two black eyes, with the irises being formed, two perfect arm buds, with the digital rays, that would be fingers, underneath, two little legs. A precious, precious, perfect little picture of God's creation. How could one love one so very, very tiny?! I wanted to take this treasure and go to every abortion clinic in the USA to show them this baby, my little baby.

Our children each got to see their little brother. If course, at such a tiny age, we don't know for SURE that he was a little boy, but S has always had a "feeling" about the gender of each of our children, and he has been right 100% of the time. Some of them understood what was happening better than others. We took our baby and buried him at our pastor's land back in Tx. We had a ceremony with some of our friends, as we placed our child in the ground. I have never known such sorrow in loosing one I loved before.

But, I must share with you, that in the sorrow, there was great comfort and peace. Our dear baby was never meant to be here on earth with us. And one day, the Lord gave me such a profound revelation. It filled me with a sense of awe and wonder. The Lord have given me a privilege. He made me His vessel to conceive and bare a little soul, that was intended ONLY for Himself. All our children are for the Lord, but this one in a special way, was created with the intent that he should go straight to be with his Creator. To bow at His throne and worship eternally. So in the sadness, there is joy. My child would not wish to have it any other way. He is supremely happy before the Lord.

Remembrance of the Lord's dealings with us is good. It is profitable to remember His ways in our lives. Thank you for remembering with me.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

E's work --a few days ago...


More Country life...


CAN I COME IN...PLEASE???

Country life...





Monday, October 6, 2008

an explanation...sort of

So, (remember, being married to an engineer, I can start my sentences with "so")...(that was too long of a parenthesis, so I will start my sentence over)......

So, for reasons that only my computer and blogger understand, sometimes my posts do not look the way that I intend for them to look. I mean, when I draft them, they look fine. Then, when I go to publish, there are huge spaces between the words, pictures, etc...

All that to say, I am sorry for the post below not looking as I had hoped it would.

Ahem, I think I should say goodnight now.

Happenings...






























































This past Saturday we had a really fun field trip. S had to work, but I and the children went with another homeschool friend and her family. We went to the Walnut Grove Plantation Fall Festival. Now, I grew up in Mn. Where "Walnut Grove" meant Little House on the Prairie. But, no, this did not have anything to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder, but it was an old plantation. There were about 100 re-enactors there that had set up camp all around. We got to watch a re-enactment of a Revolutionary War battle. There were also lots of really great demonstrations. There was a cooper making cedar buckets, spinning, blacksmithing, all kinds of other artisan workmanship. The children got to make their own hand-dipped candles, and corn husk dolls. Since the boys have been trying to make their own guns, they were fascinated to hear about these authentic guns from the past. We learned about their uniforms and costumes. They got to try a butter churn and taste the homemade butter (YUM!) There were fifes and drums, marching music, as well as bluegrass. It was a great experience! We all had so much fun! Between my friends 6 children and mine, we had twelve children 11 and under!