January Days

In years past, January's felt like such a 'blah' month. This year it hasn't, and I am thankful. Even as I notice the drab grey and brown world outside, I'm getting excited about spring bursting forth in a few (okay, so maybe more than a few!) months.

My husband and I were raised in Texas, but have made Kansas City our home for the past 16 years. We love it here: the people, the city, the four distinct seasons. I have come to appreciate the ugly-winter parts of the landscape, simply because they provide such a contrast to the beauty that bursts out in spring. I tell my kids that we don't appreciate good things as much if we always have those good things around. We humans need the contrasts around us to open our eyes to beauty and blessing.  The Lord knows us and made us this way. We need the drab winter to feel pleasure when green comes. We need times of sickness to feel thankful for health. We need to at times experience loneliness and loss to value the loved ones in our lives. We need to see glimpses of darkness in ourselves and the world around us in order for Christ's perfect light to be precious to us.

As I get older, I'm starting to think that these contrasts, and the good they can do for us, are part of what we can "give thanks in all circumstances" for.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Merry Christmas!

Here are some of the things we've been doing over the past few days.  We got a couple of inches of snow, which isn't quite as much as we'd have liked, but is apparently enough to carry a sled down our steep backyard, with a nice little shove. :) Annesley celebrated her sixth birthday, and unfortunately has been sick since that day, but she seems to be improving, so we're thankful.

Merry Christmas to you all!  Enjoy your day with family and friends, celebrating God's blessings to us, and our Hope in Jesus Christ!

Quiet House

I feel a bit awkward blogging after four months off!  But, here I am again; we are all alive and well.  Today the dog and I are alone in the house. The kids are with their grandparents for the whole week so Kevin and I can tackle some of our many house projects and have a little break.

So far I've actually found it hard to relax.  My brain keeps saying, "This is your chance.  You'd better get some projects knocked off your list or it may be MONTHS before you can pick that paintbrush up again!"  I'm hoping to work this morning and then take a break this afternoon to meet a friend for coffee.

This has already been a much-needed time of not only work, but of time with Kevin and time for me to refocus and reflect.  Kevin and I have gotten through the first few chapters of Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage, which is the best book on marriage I have ever read--and I've read quite a few! I highly recommend reading it with your spouse.

Here are some pictures of the family, and I think I can find a 'before' and 'in process' picture of the bathroom.  I love looking at before and after pics!

So, I'm back.  I'm going to try to begin blogging again, with a modest goal of once a week.  I'm off now to find my paint clothes and brush!

***Still working on those before and after photos, but here are some of the kids from last month.

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Happy July

July is here (1/4 over already!), and we are back to school. The night before we were to start back, I admit I didn't feel ready or excited. However, I love that schooling year-round (taking off June) allows me to not feel guilty when we decide to take off days just 'because', or because we need to for sickness or travel. So, this year I have a 10th grader, 8th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, and Kindergartner. And Sam and Eli are in the mix, too, learning in their little preschool ways. :) I have a workable schedule, at this point, and things are going fine. I do need to stay in prayer for strength and endurance and patience. I fail in each of those ways so often. I'm persevering, by God's grace, though!

  The girls with our dear neighbor, Deb. They made these dresses with her help.

This is our new little puppy, Bailey.  Sad, long story short, our other puppy, Bella, got sick and we had to have her put down after only having her for two months.  I now understand people's attachment to their pets a little bit better.  We were pretty sad around here for a while.  We won't be able to pick up Bailey for two more weeks, but everyone's excited.  I am excited, and nervous.  Wow.  Having a puppy is a lot like having a newborn.  I'm trying to gear up for all the work that's ahead!

This one's from Kevin's phone and is a bit fuzzy.  She's a cutie.  We fell in love with this breed with little Bella. She was a really good doggie.

Keely, who, by the way, took almost all of these photos, took this of the dinner table the other night.  The kids love to have lit candles, even if we are having pizza.  You can see our newly painted dining room.  It was a bright-ish yellow before, and quite banged up.  I like a dark, cozy dining room.

We were in Nashville for a family reunion a few weeks ago.  The kids enjoyed this cool castle-themed park.  I love that you can see Eli's happy little face upside-down. And my handsome hubby in the background.

It's funny, but out of our eight children, Sam and Eli are the first two boys born next to each other.  Sam is quite sweet with Eli, and Eli clearly thinks he's great.  If you know Sam at all, you'll understand why this concerns me a little.  I think we have some interesting mischief ahead.

Annesley is a total ham.  You can see some of her handiwork in this picture.

Here's a little sweaty-heady on the Fourth of July.  We had a nice time with some dear friends, though we didn't end up seeing any fireworks at all.  Next year...

Happy July to you!

Spring Break Projects!

Yesterday Lily and Rowan and I worked on new dresses for their dollies.  They both helped some, watched some, listened some, and took breaks to do other things while I sewed and ironed.  ;)  I didn't get any photos of Lily, but she was very anxious to do as much of the sewing herself as I would let her.  Sewing is not my most favorite thing, but I hope that my girls will learn and enjoy it, so I tried to keep sighs and negative comments to a minimum.

Rebecca and Gwen model their new dresses.  Gwen's was sized incorrectly when I printed out the pattern, so it turned out a bit, um, flirtier that we were expecting.  You can get away with that when you are an 18" doll, I guess.  The free pattern can be found here.

I think children from large families have such hard lives.  No one pays enough attention to them.  I know they must feel sad and lonely much of the time.  Do you think Eli would agree?

This is his 'Cheeeeese!' face.

Oh my goodness, he makes me smile.

This morning I prepared a special breakfast of honey-nut cheerios.

I am always so impatient to buy flowers by March.  Last Friday was a gorgeous day, and I went ahead and bought some annuals for my front porch.  Saturday and since have been cold, cold, cold.  Yesterday I thought my poor little flowers might like some outdoor afternoon sun, even though it was cold, so I set them out.  This morning I suddenly realized that I forgot to bring them back in last night!  I rescued them and though they look a bit rough, I'm hoping they'll revive.

I am redoing Keely and Annes' room, and I couldn't settle on art for Annesley's side, so I decided to create some for her.  I printed out lots of things that she likes and decoupaged them onto an $8 canvas.  I thought decoupage was fool-proof, but turns out it can be goofed up.  The pink ink from the 'Keep Calm and be a Princess' page ran everywhere!  I'm going to try to salvage it by adding some pink paint elsewhere and then covering the whole thing in glittery stuff.  Annesley likes it, so I suppose it's a success anyway!

I have just discovered the treasure trove of free printable art to be found here!  I picked up this frame several weeks ago for $3.  The stand on the back was completely missing, but I knew that it would look nice on a picture frame stand.  The butterflies image is from the NYPL digital library.  I love it!  This spot needed a little color.  And I am kindof into butterflies right now.  :)

So, this week has been full and fun, and it's not over yet!  Tomorrow we'll get ready for dinner guests and try to savor our last day of break.  Hope your week's been great, too!

First Day of Spring Break

Can I just say....YAAAAYY!!  All you homeschool Moms out there know that you get just as excited about breaks from school as your kids do!  And I should qualify:  breaks from 'normal' school.  I have some sneaky ideas to get school in this week disguised as fun.  Shhh.

Baby feet!

Last night as I was getting my boots to head to church, I pulled a toy out of one and thought, I love being a Mom.  I am trying to see each day with thankful eyes, loving these little people and accepting their messes as part of the small, small price of having a house full of people to share life with.  The Lord is so good to me, so faithful.  All last fall I felt like I was drowning under the weight of homeschooling, of mothering, of homemaking.  I am so very happy to say that the Lord has lifted me out of that difficult funk, and is granting strength and grace each day.  I still struggle, but He is helping me and walks with me.  Praise and thanks to Him!

Baby eight and baby one are good friends!  She won't like me calling her my baby, but she still is, in my mind.  :)

Today, we are going to do a lot of whatever strikes our fancy....or at least that's the plan.  The girls want to try their hand at sewing some clothes for their American girl dolls, and I would like to get some kids in the kitchen to do some baking with me.  I confess, I have to 'gear up' for kids in the kitchen.  I often feel so pressed for time that I don't allow helpers as much as I should. But today, we will bake.  I still keep a list on the inside of one of my cabinet doors to remind me who has had a turn as a kitchen helper.  It's right next to the list of whose sheets I last washed.  Lists are my friend!

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom-in-law last week.

I hope you enjoy your day, too.

This 'n' That

It's been busy around here with projects, school, field trips, and friends. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

We've been here in our rental house for almost a year, and I finally accomplished the removal of the navy/baby blue/pink/gold wallpaper in the kitchen and breakfast area. What a job! I managed to get the first coat on a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still looking for a window to get the second applied. Then we can put the baseboards back on, hang curtains, and generally have a home-y kitchen! I can't wait!

Something very exciting also happened a few weeks ago. Noah became a communicant member at our church! This just means that he made a public profession of faith before the church and may now partake of communion with the body of Christ! So exciting, and so wonderful to see the Lord working in his life. I have some video, but no stills, unfortunately. This is the stained glass in our sanctuary.

Sam has been very busy being a three-year-old boy. This involves lots of running, imagining, playing with sticks, and other important work.

My hubby had a birthday last week. We had fun celebrating him. And eating his cake. :)

Back to the kitchen project: I have searched and searched for affordable artwork to hang on my newly painted wall. I spotted these pretty frames for $12 each at Big Lots a few days ago, and I'm going to print two butterfly images from the web (on nicer paper), and have them dry-mounted for framing in the frames. I think it will be just what I've been looking for. I love red, by the way. Kevin says I need to branch out, and tried to talk me into using purple in the kitchen decor, but I just couldn't do it. :)

The kids and I enjoyed a field trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City last week with our CC Community. We did tours in the morning, and different workshops in the afternoon. So much fun. I want to go back now, with Kevin, to spend more time looking. Keely's class created Chinese landscape 'scrolls', and Rowan's worked on Native American art.

This precious Elijah makes me grin.  Sink baths are the best.  

Babies are the best.