Daybook

I've been enjoying....
My Christmas devotional The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. "The message of Christmas is that this world's a mess and we can never save ourselves from ourselves and we need a Messiah."

Out my window....
The Farmer is hauling manure, the grass is green, and the wind is a'blowing...22 mph. Good ole' Iowa!

My kids are loving....
Their new ping pong table! We set it up in the egg room in the chicken house for now, and it makes chores so much more fun. 

We are all excited for....
Our family Christmas on Christmas Eve when we finally get to empty our stockings and reveal the secrets we've all been keeping from each other!

My favorite song....
Is "Heaven Song" by Phil Wickham.

I can hardly believe....
That this year is almost over! It has been such a mixture of joy and struggle, learning and growing, fun and hard!

Today we....
Completed the first half of the school year! Two weeks of glorious vacation and then back to the books on January 4. 

God's been teaching me....
That I'm not responsible for other people's actions and attitudes, only mine!

Something I need to work on....
To pray more!!!

A picture from 2010....

My favorite quote right now....
"Stop making what people did to you bigger than what God did for you." Christine Caine

Some fun things we've done recently as a family....
Went to a Christmas play in Waterloo and in Washington, Leon took the kids Christmas shopping for me (!) while I stayed home and worked on some Christmas gifts, enjoyed the girls' piano recital, and got in lots of basketball games for the boys.

I am thankful...
For the blessing of good health for our family!

I am listening....
to Michael W. Smith's album "Sovereign".

I'm looking forward to....
Christmas with my family!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas Season...

I have been reminding myself that...

•  Simple is best, online shopping is good, and gift cards make nice gifts
• Two batches of Christmas cookies are plenty
• A clean house is better than a perfectly decorated one (of course, if you can have both, good for you)
• Making treats with the children is a lot of fun

• Mud will not steal my joy, mud will not steal my joy, mud will not..... (we are building a chicken barn and have mud and dirt everywhere due to a very warm December, but it could be worse, it could be snow!)
• My children are beautiful (even if their clothes are not new or perfectly coordinated) 

• My beautiful Advent devotional can be read in January
• Kind words to my children are better than perfect schedules
• Listening to Brooklyn read to me, s-l-o-w-l-y sounding out words, is a privilege
• Always-dead batteries in my camera mean I have creative children taking many hilarious video clips 
• Soup and bread make a fine meal for guests
• A tea party with the nieces is a special privilege even when you think you're almost too busy to plan it
• Busy Daddy's who read to their little girls are pretty special

• God is Peace, and Hope, and Everything I need

And just because I like us.......

The Week Before Christmas

It's the week before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature is stirring, except maybe a mouse.
The children are tucked in their beds for the night,
The week's been exhausting, with lots of late nights.
Filled with excitement of the days ahead,
Good times with cousins dance in their head.
Christmas is coming, and so is the fun,
Hurry, hurry, there's still lots to be done,
Cleaning and laundry and baking galore,
Organize the mudroom and so much more,
One more day of schoolbooks, oh yes, 
Then a two week break will be the best.
We'll stay up late and sleep in each morn,
Laugh and play until we're worn,
Eat lots of food, make lots of noise,
There's fun to be had with all those boys,
The girls will giggle and talk about their horse,
And play Polly Pockets and Dutch Blitz of course.
The moms will talk as fast as they can 
And cook more food for the hungry band,
The dads will catch up as only men can,
And go to B Dubs as a football fan.
We spend weeks looking forward to all the fun, 
And before you can blink, it's over and done.
We'll keep all these memories safe in our heart,
And someday we'll tell stories straight from our heart,
About the good old days when the kids were young,
Life was so easy, and so much fun.
We'll forget about the three naughty boys,
And the trapper's shenanigans will all sound like joys.
The emotional girls, we hardly can bear,
Will grow up and cook for us as we sit in our chair.
They'll talk of their young'uns, and we'll just smile,
Remembering them, yeah, it's been awhile.
So here's to the rocking chair and the good days to come, 
Getting old just might be fun.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
(Sometimes a little poetry is therapeutic :))

Remembering December

It was a good month. It was a full month. It was a month of lowering my standards. It was a month to focus on people, not decor or presents.

We baked our traditional cut out cookies one evening. The plans were to bake them in the afternoon but due to my afternoon going to someone who needed to talk, Leon ended up helping the girls and I one evening. It was okay. In fact, it was a very special memory made because we let the 'real' one go.

I got to spend a very special afternoon with a young girl from the city. We tied a fleece blanket for her Mom for Christmas, baked kiss cookies, and played Dutch Blitz.

I made caramels and turtles one day when I had a little extra time. Annika helped me wrap the caramels.

I decorated very simply.

We hosted my sister's family for a Christmas Eve soup supper, which turned into a late night with special nieces and nephews.

We spent a wonderful day at my Mom's on Christmas with my family.

We enjoyed 2 whole weeks of delightful Christmas vacation from school. We played games, read, slept late, played with cousins, and enjoyed the schedule-less life.

Leon and Logan went deer hunting and Leon got a button buck.

The children had their piano recital.

Church was canceled one Sunday and we had a delightful day at home.

The children played in the snow.

We had our traditional family Christmas supper. We ate grilled steak and onion rings and other good food on china and by candlelight. We gave the children gifts.

I found the nativity set one day with all the people turned in. I thought about the significance. I wondered what 2014 would be like if I turned toward Jesus. I wondered what it would be like if I only cared about what He thought.

2012 Memories

                                                         January-
Leon and I celebrated our anniversary 4 months late with a weekend at home, no kids. Relaxing....

(never mind that I look 6 months pregnant; must've been the vest:) )

Later in the month, we surprised the children for the 100th day of school by taking them to a hotel with a big indoor waterslide.

February-

I flew to Texas and surprised my sister Karen for her 50th birthday.

(my big sisters and me; they are 14 & 18 years older than me, but I love 'em so much!)

We also hosted 2 wonderful nephews and 1 wonderful niece for 5 days while their parents went on a mission trip.

March-

We planted early things in the garden

April-

Leon began planting

The children and I went to MO to visit my sister Mary and her family

May-

Leon and I made a fast trip to Ohio for a wedding and spent some time with my niece and her family.

We also took a field trip with several other home school families.

June-

We started eating garden goodies and enjoying summer to the fullest.

July-

We started off the month by going to the Ozarks and spending a wonderful weekend with my entire family....

                                         Here we are, all 66 of us!

The 8 siblings...alot of personality going on here. You can tell I'm one of the better behaved ones.

Then we celebrated the marriage of Leon's brother, Karlin to Megan...

We also celebrated the life and death of Leon's Grandma Miller.

August-

We spent a weekend visiting Leon's Grandma Stutzman.

We painted the school room and Leon built desks and bookshelves and we started school.

We camped in our back yard.

September-

Leon began harvest.

We celebrated 3 birthdays in our family.

We were commissioned as youth pastors at our church.

October-

We had gorgeous weather this fall.

                                                       November

                             We enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family.

                                                        December
                 We had a very busy month with basketball practice for  
           Logan, Christmas activities, baking, and then lots of fun family time with Leon's family.

                                  Kevin sure enjoys those sewin' cards.:)

                                                     Pizza Hut!

                                     We all took turns being sick ...:(
          and then finished up the month with our own little family Christmas.

It's been a great 2012.