39 Things

January is over and so is Q & A time -- the 'official' time, that is. Your questions are always welcome.

I just had a birthday on Sunday and I got the crazy notion to tell you all

                   39 Things About Me:

1. I am the youngest in a family of six.

2. I like empty trash cans.

3. I'm learning to crochet off of YouTube videos. It's so much fun. (Funny story behind this is that I got the idea about a month ago while lying in bed with the stomach flu. I watched crocheting tutorials to get my mind off my churning stomach.)

4. I have brown eyes.

5. When I have Facebook notifications, I save them up for later.

6. As of Saturday, I have a child with a permit. (I have no idea how we got here and I'm pretty sure I'll never be the same after my first ride in the passenger seat.)

7. I could easily live without ice cream.

8. I enjoy being alone.

9. I am just learning to like coffee.

10. I wear glasses.

11. I like to hang laundry outside. Even when it means icicles. (Actually, I'd never had that happen before!)

12. I was 23 when my oldest was born.

13. And 34 when my youngest was born.

14. I love to quilt.

15. I cannot make decisions.

16. I dislike winter.

17. I don't enjoy cooking.

18. I'm discovering that I love plants.

19. I got married at the age of 22.

20. I am 5' 2".

21. I have very thin hair and not much of it.

22. But I am proud of every grey one on my head.

23. I hate conflict.

24. I am not a Shopper.

25. I like to sew.

26. I have less than 20 dresses in my closet.

27. I am married to a man who loves to surprise people. (One day when we were shopping, I drooled over this cute cart. He bought it and snuck it in here Sunday after I thought they had given me my birthday gift. I was happy to make his day with my cluelessness.)

28. As a rule, I prefer working alone.

29. I wear a size 6 1/2 - 7 shoe.

30. And I have less than 10 pairs of them.

31. I don't like to drive

32. I am directionally challenged.

33. But I'm learning to go places with my GPS! (Friday me and my GPS went shopping in Holmes County while Chris and the two oldest had a quiz meet. Although I left all the goodies there, wandering around in this place was good for my soul.)

34. I hate making phone calls.

35. I lived in the same house from birth until marriage.

36. My sweaters/jackets are nearly all grey or white.

37. None of my grandparents are living.

38. I enjoy music.

39. Next year I will turn 40!

And now you know all about me ☺
How many things do we have in common?

Birthdays And Other Things That Make Me Smile

The birthdays at our house cover every month from February to June, then take a jump to September. We just celebrated two, eight days apart - Jennifer,

who turned nine March 30 

and Charles,

 who is four today.

Jennifer got her much longed for

Birthday party 

which her mean mom

(or is it more of a lazy mom?)

never let her have before,

and a lamp to put beside her bed.

Tea party

(except it was Apple Cider and

Hot Chocolate...)

And pie in place of cake.

We celebrated Charles in super simple fashion last night because little boys don't care so much how big the celebration is, as that it is about them and that they are the center of attention

The picture showed a yellow bus cake but he wanted Blue,

so Blue it was...

He got a book and some candy

wrapped in brown paper

and he passed out candy and

re-listened to his book with 

whosoever would

and thought it was all amazing.

Little children are so 

easy to please.

Things tumble around in my brain these days but they are the kind of things that only seem thing-ish when they're in my mind, so I will leave them there to tumble and churn and develop and show you some light, surface-y things that make me smile.

This view never gets old.

Before we moved into our house, I thought I would like it best when the leaves were on the trees and I was hidden away from view. Now that we're here, and I'm looking out at this every morning, I'm not so sure.

There was snow in the air this morning; some of it even had the audacity to stick to the ground. But Spring is here! I love watching the green creep into the landscape on my drive to and from school every day.

I'm having fun slowly turning 

our house into a cozy home.

There's something about putting pictures on the wall and making a space yours that just makes my heart happy.

I'm loving this canvas for 

the boy's room!

But then, I'm also loving these plates

in their wonky little cluster.

Maybe because I've had them tucked up in my cupboard for years and they deserve to be seen after all this time.

I picked up the two small ones years ago at a yard sale and the other two belonged to my grandma.

I need to run along and take

 care of mundane things like 

laundry and dishes. 

I hope your weekend is full of little things that make you smile.

Like a child, it might be the smallest gifts wrapped in brown paper!

The Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Charles' third birthday! I enjoy trying my hand at cake decorating, and since his gift was a wooden train set, I've been looking at train cake ideas. I had fun experimenting with baking cake batter in a soup can and bread pan, then figuring out how to turn the pieces into an engine and cars.

He was quite pleased!

The girls had great fun helping me add cookie wheels and candy cargo...

We had grandpas and uncle Ryan's over to celebrate and I wish you could have seen Charles when we sang happy birthday, he just beamed!

He had a little trouble with the candle blowing job but his sisters were quite willing to help him out.

Charles has loved trains for quite awhile. The library we go to has a table and wooden train set and he begs to go there to play with it. The Little Blue engine is one of his favorite books and he's easily listened to it hundreds of times! Several months ago, Chris went looking for a train set and found a super nice one for a fraction of what they normally cost. It's been hiding up at grandpa's, awaiting the big day, and we could all hardly wait to see his face!

He was almost too sleepy to be impressed but he has already spent lots of time playing with his new toys!

He was convinced that daddy got his birthday gift from the library!

Happy Birthday little buddy - although if I would tell you that, you would say, "I'm not little buddy, I'm Charles!!" 

You are so loved!

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

Eight years ago, our long awaited third born joined us. I say long awaited for more than one reason - after a miscarriage and a long year of prayer and tears, we were so excited about another little one joining our family. But that wasn't the only waiting we did in regards to Miss Jennifer Lynn, she also made us wait 2 torturous weeks past her due date before she chose to show her face....

Jennifer has been getting the American Girl Magazine for quite a while now, and loves to pore over it's pages. We've always made it quite clear that she shouldn't expect to ever own a doll herself, unless she plans to save her pennies! Imagine her surprise to find that her daddy had searched ebay to find a doll for her eighth birthday :)

She's in love!

I wanted to take a snack to school for Jennifer's classroom and since she doesn't like cake, I planned to make half moon pies. I decided to let her help me make them, rather than surprise her, since she loves to help in the kitchen.

She opted to make mini apple pies in muffin pans instead, which was fine with me! We made the crusts yesterday and froze them overnight.

She had so much fun measuring ingredients - even the shortening - all by herself, and mixing. She loves getting her hands messy! :)

I rolled the dough, and she used a lid to make circles, and a knife to cut them out and then she put them all in the pans by herself too. We layed the circle over a hole, then used a cup to push them down in - worked pretty good!

Today I made crumbs and filled the shells with apple pie filling, sprinkled crumbs on top, and baked them.

I completely forgot to take any pictures of her and her classmates enjoying pie and ice cream this afternoon (couldn't believe I forgot!) but I think the snack was a success anyway :)

So thankful for my bundle of drama and sunshine. She makes our world a brighter place!

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

Twelve years ago today, my oldest daughter lay in my arms, a helpless newborn. She didn't stay that way long! From walking at 10 months, to being potty trained at 18 months, Jasmine has always been eager to learn the next thing.  Her father's daughter, with her love of discussions and needing to know the why behind everything in life, Jasmine is a determined young lady, and whatever she sets out to do, 

she does well.

From making pie crusts and

 cinnamon rolls...

...to drawing and playing piano.

From working diligently on large amounts of memory work and being on one of the school's Bible Quiz teams...

...to putting up with a tiny bedroom shared with two little sisters...

She gives it her all.

Sometimes we knock heads with our different approaches to life ("Why are you scrubbing the drainer when you're washing dishes at 8 pm??") and our predictable differences in opinion (If she thinks two colors look good together, I'm sure to think they don't!) but when she's gone for a sleepover, like she was last week, it doesn't take me long to realize how much I rely on this child, not only for her help around the house but as my friend.

These days she's taller than me and has outgrown my shoes but I thank God for my twelve year old 'little' girl

with the big heart and the gifted hands.

Her sensitive spirit and never-give-up attitude are a challenge 

and I'm proud to be her mother!

Happy 12th, Jasmine...

and here's to many more!

6 Years Old!

My littlest lady is 6! Amazing how time flies. I took her cake and ice cream and drink to school this afternoon and had a little party with her classroom. I never cease to be amazed at the amount of time you can spend on these projects and then it all disappears in a matter of minutes! It was fun though and her shining eyes made all the effort worth it.

I'm still waiting for all the nice, quiet days with just Charles and I at home....... sometime life is bound to settle down and those days appear, right? Feels like I do a lot of running hither and yon rather than enjoying the quiet at home. But life is good and I am happy. Amen.

Happy Birthday

Thirteen years ago today, two tiny little feet walked into our lives. Those feet have been leaving footprints on our hearts ever since! It's hard to believe that our oldest is a teenager; what does that make me, I wonder??

Like one older Mother said recently, "I feel like I would be more ready to care for my children now - now I have all this experience!" I welcomed my firstborn with pretty much zero experience. As the youngest in my family, I had never cared for a newborn - never dressed one, never bathed one, never fed or soothed one, hardly ever even changed a diaper!

I look at this man-child who towers over me already and I wonder, how did we get here? How did we muddle our way through terrible nights and sickness and discipline and potty training? How did we manage to get to the place of this tall son who clothes himself and bathes himself and puts his own clothes in the laundry (usually) and pulls his share of the work around the place? Granted, there are just as many places where I hold my head and wonder how did we miss teaching him that???

And now we embark on the next phase of parenthood: the teens. I'm not sure that I'm ready for this! Still, if we could muddle our way from tiny baby to towering 13 year old, with God's help we can carry on through the next phase. And when I watch my oldest deftly washing up that pile of dishes or entertaining his younger siblings or mowing the lawn with expertise my heart swells, and I know that this child is, indeed, growing up!

Happy 13th Isaac! I'm proud to have you call me Mom.

*Please excuse the poor quality, pictures taken from pictures.......

Happy Birthday Charles!

It was Charlie's day today, the day to sing Happy Birthday and play with cake decorating and give gifts - all for an oblivious 2 year old. I think he'd have rather been sitting comfy eating jelly bread or slurping an ice cream cone or hugging all the puppies and teddies! The frosting was yummy though, and now we know what he'll look like someday with a beard!

Happy Birthday, Charles! I can't believe you're 2 already!! I'd like to keep you this size for a good long time yet......