Candle By Night

Well, a Mama can dream right? Although four new restaurants did just open up in our home. Big T's Treats, Sweet E's Bistro, Little E's Eats, and Special K's Cafe. The children were so adorable. They made up their own menus and everything. :-) We obviously need to work on counting money and how to write prices. ;-)  But it was nice that bacon and eggs were free and so were the drinks. She enjoyed coming up with her own menu. Beloved had a hard time deciding on what to order.   It's so much fun to watch them come up with stuff like this. They were sad when we told them it was bedtime because they weren't done playing. They are always asking for paper to make up new menus. :-) And a quick update on the family. We are still fighting sickness. On Friday Little E threw up in the van and last night (about 8 times) Sweet E was throwing up. We are just waiting to see if Big T or Special K comes down with anything. I pray it stops with those two. We have been s...

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God - Philippians 4:6  Why? Is it all part of becoming an adult? Of being a homeowner is more like it. I never seemed to have this problem until last year. Something will happen (that I can't control) and my stomach starts to turn and my heart races. Just like last night. Nothing big. We just have a drippy faucet in the shower. About a year ago my husband tightened a screw or something and fixed it, but it was late last night so he just shut off the hot water to the shower. Well, it got me to thinking of a leaking pipe (that goes to the outside) we have and all the pipes that we should replace soon. (No others are leaking, but it would be a good idea...you know?) All I can see is money dripping out of the faucets (A "perk" of living in town). If we had well water I probably wouldn't fret about it so.  Like I said, it's nothing I can do. ...

One more post for today. By Brother and Sister-in-Love use to have a party every New Year's Eve. Since they moved to the family farm that tradition fell to the way side. But this year, at the spur of the moment, we were blessed to spend time with them, their family, and my Father and Mother-in-Love. (Minus one niece...she already had plans.) Everyone had a lot of fun and we ended our night well before midnight. Were getting old you know. Haha :-) Special K couldn't quite figure out the hat My Father and Mother-in-Love are ready for a party. :-) Fun times! Happy New Year! The children wanted to take these home.....I think not. When we made it back to our home Little E and Special K went to bed. Beloved, Big T, Sweet E and me played Blokus until midnight. Promptly at 12:01 we headed to bed. :-)

if it's already the middle of January. Who cares if I post Christmas pictures now? I'm behind okay? Just leave me alone. ;-) I don't know what it is. I just can't get back into the habit of posting every few days. I am lucky if I download pictures two weeks after they are taken. That is how bad I have gotten. Shame on me. But, because I haven't posted pictures lately what's the difference if I just do it now. So here you go. Christmas pictures in the middle of January.  First up is the present I made for Beloved. I had this idea just come to me when I was walking by an old globe that we had. I thought of the idea this past summer (I think). The globe isn't accurate and so I wanted to find a new use for it. I also wanted Beloved to have something in his office that he would enjoy. So...why not a rotating photo album. I printed a LOT of pictures of our family. There is a picture of each of the children when they were born, our engagement and wedding photo, an...

Wow...sickness has started in our home and does not want to leave. Beloved is on antibiotics and a very strong cough syrup. Me, I just have a head cold that makes me feel like my head is going to explode! But on to a different subject. I was given the privilege to review a couple of workbooks that are offered by Timberdoodle. What? You haven't heard of Timberdoodle! Well, you are missing out for sure. Go to their site and check it out . First up to review was a Mathematical Reasoning (Level B) book from The Critical Thinking Company . We have a math curriculum that we use with Big T and Sweet E already, but it was refreshing to add in something different to the schedule. I will also admit that I do not have any pictures of my children using these books. Since I have come down with a cold my want/need-to do's have not happened. This book has been such a hit with both of the children. The pages are in large print, lots of colors, and easy to understand directions. I should also ...

Okay, okay....I know...another review. :-) But I am behind on getting these posted. I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my review. From BookSneeze- A new year's worth of inspiring stories from the front lines of faith. "A willingness to go is all they have in common," says Beth Moore and Kim P. Davis, speaking of their friends on the front lines who are spreading the gospel around the world and with whom they collaborated to create this book. This second book of 366 daily devotionals features stories of God's faithfulness, written by hundreds of missionaries worldwide. From stirring miracles to heroic adventures, this second volume highlights those who daily go to the outer limits of spiritual devotion. A follow-up to the first book which has now sold 300,000 copies. Granted I am only seven days into this book, but I have found it enjoyable to read daily. It has provided me with encouragement to help me get my day started. I haven...

Yes, I have once again given a privilege of reviewing a book. This time it's I received a book for my children.    God Gave Us So Much is a collection of three stories written by Lisa Tawn Bergren and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. When the book arrived I barely had a chance to look at the cover before my children rushed in and took it away to read it. My readers and non readers really enjoy this book. It's wonderful as a read aloud to the whole family.  From the website- Through the eyes of a curious little polar bear, young readers are invited into engaging journeys through the Arctic North Pole to explore some of their most tender-hearted and important questions. Mama, Papa, and Grampa Bear, the ever-loving and wise guides for Little Cub’s adventures, share with her the incredible miracles of God’s creation and the depths of His love for her.  This limited edition treasury of the best-selling God Gave Us series includes three complete charming tal...

I was looking at some posts over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee . This post really struck me. I guess she had seen this article about a "famous" pastor that left his church and headed to Asia. You may not agree with everything this pastor teaches, but this message really struck me. I just wanted to share it with you.

 just so cute! My mother brought up a few things of mine a few weeks ago. She also gave me my grandmother's wedding dress. Sweet E was so intrigued by it. I decided to let her try it on. She just had the biggest smile on her face and was so giddy. It definitely made her day. I will have to scan the wedding picture of my Grandma some time and show it to you all. ;-) That's it. A short and sweet post. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

God for providing for our family. I can say our debts (minus the mortgage anyway) are paid off. We paid of the ER bill (the biggest bill) off this week. It felt so good! We thought it would take a long time to pay these bills off and with a surprise blessing they are taken care of! So I just wanted to share that with you all. ;-) And during this blessed week of reflection on God's love, goodness, grace, and forgiveness we are constantly trying to figure out what is best for our family. I guess you could call them traditions. Of course any time I hear the word tradition I think of this song. I just can't help it. ;-) (just make sure to shut off the music in the side bar).   We don't do the Santa thing with our children. That's our choice. We don't spend a ton of money on gifts for everyone in the family either (not like we could if we wanted to. LOL) For a few years we didn't celebrate Christmas at all. We would attend family gatherings but that was it. I don...

What little girl didn't pretend to be a princess? It's something I think all little girls want to be at one time or another. As a mother it's hard to find a fairy tale type of book with good morals and values. Something that is really beneficial to my daughters. Where the Jewels Are , written by Diana Symons, is about a young princess who has everything. How do you tell her no when so wants even more? Her wise Father sends her on a journey to find the one thing she is missing. This book is an easy read with short chapters. Good for young readers and great as a read aloud book. (Written for 8-12 years old or the young at heart.) It's hard to find a book like this without magic, witches, and the like. It was refreshing to find a book that didn't include any of this. I am always on a lookout for books about knights, kings, queens, princesses and princes, but they usually have magic or witches involved. I am glad I had a chance to review a book that didn't feel ...

A year already? It can't be...can it? ;-)

all the time! Praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever.We have had a ton of things happen this past month. From doctor visits, to an ER visit, to more doctor visits, Special K chipping her front tooth and Beloved getting in a car accident this week.....we haven't had a dull moment. And during all of this the Lord has helped us every step of the way. His hand of protection was on our family during all of this. Especially with Sweet E (ER visit), Special K (Chipped tooth), and Beloved (in the car accident.) And during this time of year we reflect more on God's goodness. The fact that a little baby was born just so he could die for our sins is unbelievable. (I know there is debate about the actual time of year Christ was born, but I am not getting into that right now.) I just want to focus on his love, greatness, and forgiveness. Thank you Lord for sending your son, to be born on this earth and to die for our sins. Because of Jesus we can be saved and have a relationship wi...

"O, give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever." 1 Chronicles 16:34 "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57   Our family has had a lot going on the past couple of weeks. One week Beloved and Special K went to the doctor and came out with 5 prescriptions between the two of them. Then on Friday (about 3 am) we rushed to the ER with Sweet E. Her face (on her left side) had swollen up so bad that she was screaming and crying in pain. So we took the other three children over to my in-laws and headed to the ER. No definite cause was determined. The ER doctor thought it had to do with her saliva gland and our family doctor thought it had to do with a lymph node. She was prescribed antibiotics and ibuprofen. (along with instructions to place a warm compress on her face every few hours). Praise the Lord, the swelling finally went down and it appears to be totally gon...

Maybe you have heard in the news about the 4 people that went missing last week. They rescued the young girl on Sunday and they just found the bodies of the other three (two women and an young boy). My heart is aching right now. The girl was found about 2 minutes from our home. Not knowing them doesn't matter. It's a tragic thing that has happened and we all need to pray for everyone involved. Especially this young girl. She has a long road ahead of her and God is the only one that will be able to help her through it. Please keep everyone in your prayers.

What does the title mean? Well...I will tell you. Here is the ouchie part. It's sort of hard to tell. But Special K kissed the pavement one day. She scratched up her nose and had the biggest fat lip I have ever seen on a baby. :-( And of course it had to happen before a trip to see family. The family part of the title is just that. We went to Indiana for a family Christmas. Yes, I did say Christmas. My grandparents go to Florida for the winter so the beginning of November is usually Christmas time for us. Here is a picture of all the grandchildren plus 4 great grandchildren with Nana and Grandpa. I almost forgot to post this. Before we went to see my Mom's side of the family we stopped off to see our oldest niece at college. We didn't get to spend much time with her but we did have a chance to take her out for supper. We miss having her around, but we know she is loving college.  And the pick-up part of the title has to do with leaves. Every year when the leaf truck ...

Don't you just love surprise packages? I sure do! Look what showed up on my doorstep one day. Our household has been 90% gluten free for over a year and a half. Hubby is the one that needs to eat gluten free, but the rest of us do as well because it's just easier. (So that's why we are not 100% gluten free.) I make the majority of things from scratch. But It's hard sometimes to always have something. That's why I was ecstatic to have a chance to review all these gluten free products.  We had the yellow cake with chocolate icing the other night and it was a hit with the entire family. The only thing I have a problem with is that gluten free products are usually twice as much as the gluten free counterpart and half the size. Which is what this cake was. It only made one round layer instead of two. I guess you can look at that as a blessing in disguise. It keeps me from eating too much of things I shouldn't. ;-)  Oh yeah...and the brownies are delicious as well...

Yes, once again I am way behind on updating this site. I know. Excuses....excuses. But we have had sickness go through the house the past month. First up are the cake pictures from Special K's birthday. I did a take on Sweet E's 1st birthday cake. Here is a picture of Sweet E and her 1st birthday cake. I made a gluten free yellow/chocolate layer cake so Beloved could join in. I was going for more fall colors, but I ended up with fluorescent instead. :-(  I have to say that Special K's cake did turn out nicer. But I had to start somewhere right? And she wasn't sure what to do with the candle either.  But she sure loved eating cake for the very first time! The Saturday after her birthday was the Upward Soccer Celebration. There was a bonfire, hayrides, face painting, corn hole, jump house, giant soccer balls, and the local college radio station was there too.  The announced each of the teams and the children received a nice Upward backpack.   The Little ...