Because He Loves Her...

...and she loves him.

She Makes Everything Pretty

"Look, Mama--I did my piggy's ears all pretty for Thanksgiving.

I put bobby pins in, just like Linnea does.

I think my piggy wants me to do this for her every day."

It's Her Color

I think chocolate is her color--

she looks so good in it.

What I Wish My Bathroom Smelled Like

Nothing.

That's what I wish my bathroom smelled like--nothing.

Because if my bathroom smelled like nothing, then that would mean that it didn't smell like a dirty diaper left in the garbage.

And if it smelled like nothing, then it couldn't smell like a lit match

which means someone did something stinky.

(I won't buy commercial air fresheners--I call them cancer-in-a-can.)

If my bathroom smelled like nothing, then it wouldn't smell like wet towels left on the floor.

And it couldn't smell like someone should have lit a match, but didn't.

Sometimes my bathroom smells minty,

but that's only when Ivy's been extravagantly loading her toothbrush...and the counter...and the towel she used to wipe it all up...and then left on the counter.

I wish my bathroom smelled like nothing. 

Elizabeth

I just can't stop myself.

Here is yet another picture of Elizabeth.

You're welcome.

In Love

I'm seriously in love with this baby's cheeks.

Seriously.

Adoration

A sister's adoration...

it's mutual.

The View From Here

 Sometimes God speaks through soundless things.

Sunday Smile

To Catch Up (Along with Some Ketchup)

In typical middle-child fashion, Andrew and Elijah didn't get their very own birthday posts--

neither here on my blog nor on facebook.

At least in this family there are several other middle children with whom 

to share the cost of therapy when they're adults.

I'm finally getting a chance now to post some catch-up pictures.

We celebrated Andrew's 10th birthday earlier this month, see?

He was satisfied with the little tiny bar I cut for him.

We learned that day that LittleBit loves suckers

and that she insists on one for each hand.

Ivy shared hers with her baby sister.

We celebrated Elijah's that day, too, as he & Andrew have birthdays ten days apart.

Loaded cheeks for all those candles!

The one-and-only picture I got of any of my family deer hunting.

This was Andrew's first year--he was VERY excited.

Dennis, Nathaniel, Isaiah, and Linnea each got a doe.

Andrew will have to wait for another year. :)

THEN,

Elijah actually did turn six, see?

It will help me in the future to remember how old they are in the picture so I have them hold up the correct number of fingers on their birthday morning.

Later on the day of his real birthday, we had a little party with "just us".

His favorite gift was his very own bottle of ketchup.

Look at his face!!

I took a picture of this baby belly at roughly 14 weeks, which was a couple weeks ago.

The children occasionally comment that the baby is growing!

I seriously don't know how other women take belly pictures--

either the flash was completely reflective in the mirror or I wasn't looking in the right direction at all

or you could see the toothpaste smeared on the counter or you get the idea.

There--I think I'm a bit caught up.

Now, back to that laundry...

The Spaghetti Picture

I have a "spaghetti picture" for each of the kids.

Elizabeth's were especially fun because of how funny the older kids thought 

she was, making such a mess of her little face.

I love being her mommy.

Working on--and for--Marriage

Dennis and I have been given an incredible gift for this weekend--a way to attend a Weekend to Remember marriage conference.
We head for Sioux Falls, SD today.

I can't even remember the last time we "went away" so this is new and exciting for us.

The younger kids will stay with my mom & dad; I'm so thankful for their willingness to watch them while we're gone.

The boys will be home, manning the farm.  I wrote a menu plan for them so they know what they should cook and when, but that's the extent of what I had to do for them.  They would do fine as bachelors. :)  I'm proud of them that they are capable and trustworthy to handle the tasks necessary while Dennis is away.

I spent the evening doing multiple loads of laundry (after having been gone much of yesterday doing this and running several errands) but I think now, everyone will have clean clothes to wear.

Elizabeth will be coming with us, our friends are going to Sioux Falls to watch her while we attend the conference.

I'm just so incredibly thankful for this gift and for all the details falling in place so we could go.  I'm thankful for friends who reached out in this way.

I have several posts I need to write/publish, so hopefully next week, I can get some of that done since it's been a week of "nothing" here on my blog. :)

Now, I'd best head back to bed so I can get up in a few hours and start packing for myself, Dennis and Elizabeth.  (I fell asleep earlier while putting Little Bit to bed, then got up to do some more laundry, respond to some messages, and read some blogs.)

I Did It!

Today, I had to sing for a Christian Women's Club meeting in town.

Running late (shocking, I know), I noticed a few miles down the road that the "low oil" light was on.

Dang.

Competent woman that I am, I called Dennis and said, "What should I do?"

He asked where I was and I told him; he said I should stop at the station in the town I was approaching and add oil.

Submissive Christian wife that I am, I whined said, "Do I have to?"

He said my other option was to sit at the station and wait for him to come put oil in the car.
Swiping a tear from my cheek at the gallant nature of this proposal, I politely declined and said I would figure it out.

Did you know that it's labeled and everything under the hood of a car?????  A bright yellow cap that says "add engine oil here."--whoa, this car was made for women like me.  (Afterthought:  Maybe there are no other women like me...)

I impressed myself with my mad hood opening skills.

The conclusion of this riveting little story?  I bought the oil, asked the nice station owner man for a paper funnel (which he had!), didn't spill any oil while using said funnel, put the oil in the right place, got back in the car and the oil light went off.
One small step for you, maybe--one giant leap for me!!!

Aaaaaaaaand, I was only about 7 minutes late for the gig at which I was supposed to sing.

Comparatively speaking, I would chose this kind of event over a carsick kid or diaper "malfunction" any day of the week.  Those are two other reasons I have been late for speaking/singing commitments.  In case you were wondering.  Which you probably weren't.

The end.

Just Try

Try not to smile when you look at this...

I dare ya.