Life

Nephew Ben, our Joseph, and Levi's Sam

Lily's new bird

The Boston Terrier-A gift from my brother Judah- we love him. Formerly Scooter now Goob

Baby Judah Samuel- one day old

baby Cousin Joseph James (Ben's # 2)with our Joseph Peter

John with another new pet

I can't believe it has taken this long for me to blog again. I think I have been extra tired at night. So much has happened since January. On the 29th of January my brother, Levi died suddenly from a blood vessel eruption in his heart while talking to my Dad late one night around a bonfire just after he arrived home from work. At only 31 his widow and the rest of us were shocked. His little two year old Sam will still remain close by as his mom has choosen to stay here in TN. Levi is buried just across the road from where I live. During the month of January our family had spent time with Levi in Bible study and worship together. My boys were able to throw a football around and play games with my funniest and easy-going brother. His funeral was meaningful as people full of faith shared their songs and memories. My dad shared how he felt honored to be there in the beginning and the end. (He delivered Levi at home) Please keep praying for my family as daily life has brought the constant reminder of his absence.

A nephew was born two weeks before Levi passed away and another nephew was born just a few weeks ago. New life brings an awe of the power of life and death and I cannot express how I feel about the mystery of it all.

Early December

Lily's hair is so ridiculously curly that I just had to blog about it. This picture was taken just after her hair had dried. By the way, she is doing much better and we havn't seen any seizures in about a month. We would like her to be off of Dilantin if possible. Thanks for praying. She is an amazing girl and is faced with a bit more boredom since she quit drawing as much. We are all trying to take time each day to do some activity with her after school.

Candace and Michael are here to help with the work load at the shop. I was so tickled and so were the girls when she came over one evening to play. Snuggling and reading to the girls meant a lot. The simplest things in life and the loving things we do for the "least of these"(Matthew 20) are really the greatest joy givers not only for others but for ourselves.

Joseph and John on Joe's birthday

The first half of December we celebrated Joseph's 2nd birthday. He is a unique character, one that leaves me puzzled at times. We are loving this age especially when he is just sitting still with a handful of my hair sucking his finger. We are not so fond of this age when the curiousity takes control of his being , which has led to mayonaise covering himself and the floor surrounding him, a hop in the tub fully dressed (including his dirty diaper which led to the contents floating in the water) with at least a 1/2 gallon of water on the floor, a tea party hosted by Joe himself as he filled up Sarah's plastic tea pot with toilet water and spilled it on the carpet of her bedroom floor, Lily's cassette tape bin dumped and tape pulled out, marker art work on the doors, toys and soggy cereal thrown into the bird cage, Grandma's decorative pebbles thrown into her toilet, our toilet clogged with who knows what, and.... should I stop here? I know what some of you are thinking....... What is wrong with his mother and why has she not trained this kid?, she definitely knows better...... Well I am much more occupied than I used to be but this guy does his mischief with lightning speed. Have you seen Dash from the movie the Incredibles?.. well it's just that he is usually up to no good the minute he is out of our sight. "Go check on Joe, where is Joseph?, what is that noise?," -These words are the neverending sounds coming forth from my mouth! Some of the things he gets into are definite no no's that have already been ingrained into him but do you think to tell your kid "'Don't pull the mayo jar off the counter or Don't throw things into the bird cage? Lately my motto has been .. "No Joe, it's not a toy. Not a toy, Joe." But everything that isn't a toy is so interesting to him.His cuteness and his repeating of all he hears is counteracting his naughtiness and we are still enjoying this crazy but tiresome kid.

A Little Bragging on Josh

I don't brag on Josh enough, in fact, I don't give him enough breaks sometimes. I wanted to tell a little more about his life. Joshua saved and bought this drum set in Missouri while we were on vacation. It has been a loud but valuable asset to the musical activity in our home. My favorite sound is Joshua's voice as he plays his guitar. He has now saved enough to buy an electric acoustic guitar. We are all thankful for his seemingly effortless ability to improve. He might disagree and say he practices but I am clueless when it comes to musical ability. Joshua works part time for his Uncle's business doing office work such as bidding jobs, dealing with clients over the phone, E-mails, etc. He is very fortunate to have this opportunity and I know the confidence and skills he is acquiring are priceless. He takes great care of the kids and house when Kenny and I are away. He is also blessed with a love for reading and is serious about his education. Golfing (and improving in the sport) with Kenny and Paul is also a huge part of his life. Because high school homeschoolers don't seem to have team sports opportunities in this area we have let him work out at a boxing gym with some great guys a few times a week. But most importantly he seems to have a love for his family and Creator so..... I couldn't ask for a better son!!! (sometimes I don't hesitate to send constant correction to the kids and while that can be good, I know they need to be told all the good and how much they are appreciated so I am announcing to all that we are grateful for what God has given us. God spared his life on that sad day when his brother went on to eternity. At three years old he became an even more precious gift to us. We told him then and we tell him now ..... You are here with a purpose.

Joshua and Hope hang out often and play music and sing together. Hope is a talented, God-fearing friend and cousin and we are grateful she lives right next door. I am looking forward to the day when many others will have the opportunity to hear the songs she has written.

I ask friends and family to pray for our teens as they are up against so many lies being yelled out to them in every direction. I don't hope for perfect teens, nor expect it but I hope they can through the power of God in their lives ....Do Hard Things.... like the book Josh just read by the Harris twins. They can rise above low expectations not for the purpose of their own glory but to the encouragement and uplifting of others. How can others know of the love of God unless we are confident in showing it? Josh just told me today of his disgust when he sees Christians come across like they are better than others. While we should never be ashamed of the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, others need to see that it's only through our allowing Him to live in us. Our pride is smellier than blatant sin. Jesus seemed to portray this as he dealt with others. Lord, humble us and help us to glory only in the cross......Let our Christianity be relational (as my friend Tina says) and not religious. Anyway, please pray for Josh as he will be seeking direction in the next few years.

Just a note: Lily has had a tough week with close to 200 seizures in 5 days. Her seizing was worse at night and they would come in clusters of 10 or so. She is better now and on a third med. She is glad to be sleeping better and she handles it so well but please pray this does not become a common week in her life. So far this only has happened twice before. Both times she was hospitalized but this time it was manageable at home since we had all the meds we needed. Thanks for praying. She is amazing.

Fun with John

All our boys are ramping lately especially now that they have a track around the lake. I will post pictures of that later.

This is my favorite picture of the day. John was laughing so hard as he threw leaves into my face. His laughter was contagious.

John enjoying making huge bubbles. Taking the day to play was good for me and even better for John. The weather was perfect and I told Kenny it was one of the best days I have had with the younger kids all year. I am so glad to still have young ones who get so much satisfaction out of the simplest things like blowing bubbles and playing in the leaves. It is so nice to have a way like blogging to keep record of the good times.

For whatever the reason we have a surplus of hickory nuts and acorns. My mom had a bowl of hickory nuts sitting on her counter one day and I thought they were delicious so I started to help her dig the meat out of the intricate shell and before long I became addicted to the picking. They taste similiar to walnuts yet sweeter. Yes, I am a picker. You either hate it or love it. Before long I was collecting my own stash and not feeling one bit guilty about robbing the squirrels ( we have zillions of acorns this year). If I woke in the middle of the night I started digging at the nuts and soon I had enough to make a whole chocolate cream square dessert for Thanksgiving. I only had one complaint of a tiny piece of shell in the whole thing! Was it worth it? I don't know, it was fun eating something I didn't have to grow or buy.

Good Stuff

If you are a parent then go here....http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2861 This is a good reminder and heartbreaking to see the ill effects on relationships everywhere! Let's not just go with the flow and fall into the trap.

Lily is a good sister to little Joe

Sarah and John attacking the mom

Japanese Maple is beautiful no matter what season we are in.

Fall has been a bright and cheery season for us here in Tennessee. The most brilliant colors seemed to last just a couple of weeks and I am glad we took advantage of a few of these nice days and just played. When the chores seem endless indoors and the stress is mounting, we need to run away to the woods and fields where we will feel energized and on our return home we will be ready and able to tackle those jobs a little more light heartedly!! Try it!

October 10th

Grandma helping Sarah

Sarah Faith

Birthday Breakfast

It's hard to believe our baby girl is already 3! She had her special breakfast including a pancake man , an idea I read in the Little House Books. Evening time brought on the typical cake and ice cream party with neighbors and family. She is on the rowdy side so she had a ball with the golf club set and punching bag from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks to all the out-of-state grandparents for making her day special.