Little hands - big hearts

After I showed the kids the countdown streamer I made for them, they each busied themselves.  I made theirs wanting them to have something visual to countdown until we'd see each other again.  Our daughter presented us with this one, to take along on our trip.  Our oldest son's is hanging from the railing and I think the youngest son took his to bed with him! 

You can be sure this precious cargo will be in our suitcase! 

Wordless Wednesday: The Countdown

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Having a bit of a stressful week, I fell into my hubby's embrace with tears in my eyes.

Our younger two children noticed and came to join in on the hug, wrapping their arms around our legs.

We stayed like that for a few moments until our youngest ended the tender moment by asking, "How long are we going to hug like this?"

Visit Mary for more Tiny Talkers.

Happy Birthday Ginger! :) (again)

A big hug from us to you!!

Originally posted 3-11-10

Take it to the curb.

I'm currently reading Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts.  It is encouraging me to look for the beauty around me.  God is right here.  Beauty is found right here.

Take, for example, the empty trash can at the end of my driveway. 

Am I drawn to it because I need to go and get it, or can I see it as beautiful?  A gift from God? 

Each week, we put our trash by the curb.  All I need to do is collect the trash the night before and roll the trash can to the end of my driveway.  The next day the trash truck comes and removes it.  It is empty.

Our family adds to that trashcan. Every. Single. Day. With lots of trash. 

And I sin.  Every. Single. Day.  Filling my own metaphorical trashcan.

And then, the trash can is empty.  In prayer, I am made empty of my sin. 

All I have to do is gather it up and be willing to take it to the curb.  To let go.  And He takes my trash.

**God placed this word picture on my heart Tuesday.  On Wednesday, the first day of Lent, we started reading the book Amon's Adventure: A Family Story for Easter (written by the same author that wrote Jotham's Journey, the book we read for Advent).

After the story, there is a short devotional.  I knew God wanted me to become more aware of taking out the trash when I read this in Wednesday's devotional, "Lent is a time to refocus our lives on God, to throw out the trash of our own sin, and prepare to let the power of the resurrection wash across us once again."

God is so good!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Daddy!

(this setup never gets old!) 

Marshmallows with a side of cocoa! ;)

Totally worthy of a re-post!

originally posted 2.24.10

A Weekend to Remember

We had cabin fever.  And I'm not talking about the kind where you feel stuck inside and want to get out.  I'm talking about the kind where you feel like you are too busy and want to get away for a weekend - to a cabin in the mountains!

Just the 5 of us headed up this weekend and had a wonderful time.  We played tons of Battleship. This was a new game for our kids, as evidenced by their excitement shouting, "You sunk my battledroid!"  And, "Want to play battleboat?"

Having heard great things from some fellow friends/bloggers, we added Qwirkle to our personal game stash and had a great time learning how to play it

We went to the used bookstore.  And we even attempted to try out the toboggan slide in nearby Eagles Mere, but it was closed. :(

But we found the next best thing, sledding down the driveway!

I do believe this first one is my favorite!!  BAH hahaha

No, this one is my favorite!

But, the most memorable thing about the weekend was the we lost our electricity!  Saturday afternoon, everyone was resting and I was reading a book (Michale Oher's "I Beat the Odds" - very good book, by the way) and the lights flickered and then went totally out.  T called the electric company and we just started playing games while we still had the daylight.  As it got closer to supper time, I saw no point to eat by candlelight (the cabin has a gas oven, so we could have technically cooked supper, but....)  So we headed out to grab a bite to eat. 

As we drove down the driveway we noticed the lights were still out.  We got into the cabin and T began lighting the candles we had set on the kitchen counter - when the electric came back on!  YAY!  We watched a movie and played more games.  We were just starting Sequence when the lights went off again - but it was just about bedtime so we all went to bed.  The lights flickered on and off a few times during the night, but were on, and stayed on for the remainder of our stay!  We know the kids won't forget this trip!

Wordless Wednesday

Just another...

routine camera card picture upload.

Note - since the temps got pretty warm yesterday I sent the kids outside to play.  They came back in because the wind was getting too strong.  Apparently they were hot, because the boys changed into shorts and short sleeves and then found my camera...and someone got tired of getting his picture taken. 

Wordless Wednesday: Prayer Shawl (my first to give away)

I love puzzles!

And the trickier the better.

This one has been a favorite since finding it in a fun, little store in the Outer Banks last August.

Tantrix.

10 puzzle pieces - each one is numbered on the back (1-10).  And the numbers are different colors.

Start with pieces 1-3 and build a yellow loop.  Why yellow?  Because the highest piece (#3) is yellow.  As you form the loops, you add the next numbered piece and make a loop the same color as the # on back and so on...

#7, below is red.  Our next step would be to take the puzzle apart, add piece #8 - which is blue, and form a blue loop.

But there is another trick.  Once you form your main colored loop, the other 2 colors must also match up.  We're still struggling with the one below - we got our main yellow loop, but the red and blue pieces aren't lining up.

We enjoy it so much, we have 2 sets.  Not only do we enjoy racing each other, you can add the second set in using #1 as #11!

Any puzzles/games your family enjoys?

The best part of waking up...

It isn't folgers, but let me introduce you to my friend, cocoafee.  It's 95% hot chocolate and 5% (if that much) instant coffee.  But it works for me and is as strong as I can take it! :-D

My kids love to talk about my cocoafee addiction.  I did have to let them know that it's a word I made up and asked them to not use it in public! ;-)

Magnets

Someone is really enjoying science!

Floating disc:

They are *how* tall? ;-)

I totally missed out on this photo opp!

Wordless Wednesday: It's all about the shoes!