Friday, April 26, 2013

Can not even tell you how much I love this!


Please watch to the very end.  I knew I loved this song!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Spiritual Milestone!



Today our daughter H was baptized, along with her bio sister, by my husband.
 

A beautiful picture of how God is making all things new.


A day we could not have foreseen a year ago.  A day prayed for and fought for. 

A

very

special

day.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Parenting...

... is not for the faint of heart.

All is well, but man what a grueling day with one of our sons!  Raising little boys was easier than raising young men.  Yet at the same time, it is so incredibly wonderful to see glimpses of the men they are becoming.  I'm so thankful for God's wisdom that I can call on at any moment.  And for my husband.  It works out really well that since he's a guy, he has a guy's perspective.  ;-)

If it were easy and I could manage the whole process myself.... they wouldn't be very awesome men in the end.

Praise God that He loves them even more than I do!

He's got this.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Easter Weekend


What glorious weather we had Easter weekend!  And my niece Hailey was here from college!!  That makes a great combination. :-)








Whenever Hailey or her sister Sarah has been here for a holiday, they always make "monkey bread" with our children.  It has become a really fun tradition that the kids look forward to!



Coloring eggs.








 Easter Sunday ~ celebrating the truth that Jesus is risen!  Our family....



....with Hailey.


 Our nephew and his girlfriend.


My sister in law and her ex (they are friendly!).


Daughter G and a friend.




More little friends, hunting for eggs in the yard!









One more shot of the finished bunk beds.  Just because.



Another cousin tradition is playing with the older cousin's hair.... this is Hailey's hair with every barrette and scrunchy that we have in it.




A wonderful, wonderful time together...how my heart was full that day!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Family!









(April 4 ~ official welcome of daughter H into our family!)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Wordless Wednesday


Okay, this one needs a few words.  We measured son L on Easter Sunday to see how he compared to his 6'5" cousin when the cousin was L's age.  We had measured him just 11 days prior, so I did not expect any change.  I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.  He grew 3/4 of an inch in 11 days!!  He is now 5' 10.5".  He passed me around  Thanksgiving.... wonder how much longer til he passes my husband?

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Bunk Beds!!

Once upon a time there was a husband and wife who found out they were expecting their fifth child.  In order to make a nursery for the coming baby, the husband decided to build bunk beds so that the other three brothers could all share one room (big sister already had her own).  Beautiful, strong poplar wood was purchased and all the pieces were cut to the specified size.


There were a LOT of rectangular pieces, and they were stacked in the garage waiting to be sanded.  There they waited, and waited, and waited.  The wife made a plan B allowing the three boys to share a room, got the nursery ready, and gave birth to the fifth baby.  Another boy!  Life got even busier.  Periodically through the next few years a few pieces of the bunk bed got sanded.  After about eight years, ALL the pieces were finally sanded!

Then the husband and wife learned they would become parents to another daughter!  The only logical place for the new daughter to sleep was to share the first daughter's room.  The bunk beds would need to be finished.   The husband worked with new urgency.  He and his wife spent hours and hours gluing all the pieces of the headboards and footboards together.  That part was definitely a two person job.


Finally they were ready to be assembled!  Oh happiness!!


The wife could hardly believe when they were ready for SHEETS to be put on!


The new daughter loved her space on the top bunk!


The trundle bed still fit under the bottom bunk, so a third girl could sleep in that room, too.  Just in time for an Easter visit from cousin Hailey!



God knew these beds would be needed even more in 2013 than they were in 2004..... and the finishing of them would mean more to the husband after such a long wait.  The wife was thrilled.  The girls were ecstatic.  Happy sleep reigned in the now spacious bedroom.

The end.