View

This morning, I woke up grumpy. I’ve been under the weather, got up with a crick in my neck, and my sleep was very interrupted last night. I was stumbling around the house, looking for coffee and complaining to myself. All I could see was the discomfort, inconvenience, and labor that a morning with three little kids brings with it.

But all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit reminded me that these children, this home, this day, are all precious blessings from His Hand. I deserve none of them, but He gives them to me out of His great love for me, His daughter, and they are such wonderful gifts!

So instantly, the view changed! Instead of fuzzy drab complaints, I saw beautiful, colorful blessings, and day that stretched ahead, full of grace.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of heavenly lights!”
~ James 1:17

This is a prompt from the Gypsy Mama. Go check out her blog, and the other Five Minute Friday posts.

It’s a Real Garden

After many years of interesting attempts container gardening, we have an actual, in the ground garden. I am so thankful for our yard! It’s not huge, so we picked out a corner for a raised bed. It’s 3 ft x 8 ft and get shade in the late afternoon, which is really good because of how blazing hot it gets here in the summer.

We all have had a blast leveling the ground, building the raised bed, adding the soil, planning and planting. We used a mixture of compost and expanded shale for the soil, and so far it seems to be supporting the plants very well. The boys loved the digging and dirt preparation, and now they like going to check on the garden, and love eating the spinach and herbs that we’ve been able to enjoy already. We have three tomato plants, one poor little cucumber, one zuchinni, some spinach, carrots, cilantro, basil, oregano, and thyme.

The tomatoes and zuchinni have blooms on them! Yay! I cannot wait to eat some of those tomatoes with some fresh basil.

We’ve learned a few things that I want to remember:

1. Never, ever plant before Easter (in our area). The weather is going to get nice, and I’m for sure going to want to plant things, but just don’t! We planted all our plants a few weeks before Easter, and one very cold night found us outside trying to protect the little seedlings. And that didn’t even work, so we had to replant some things.
2. Cucumbers, while one of my favorite salad ingredients, are awfully persnickety plants.
3. It’s really easy to over-water vegetables. It’s so funny that in wanting to care for the plants, I can be too attentive, and flood them out.
4. The fickle-ness of the weather has reminded me that the Lord supplies all our needs, and that even though most of our food comes from a store, it is still His mercy that provides the rain for the farm-grown food.

Song

When I was a little girl, falling asleep under a ceiling fan swirl of muggy air, listening to birds, bats, and drums, my mom or dad would come in and sing me a song. I’m pretty sure I asked for “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” and “Away in the Manger” every other day for a year. And my parents sang to me of Jesus and His balm for my soul.

When I went to boarding school, my sweet mom made me a tape. She was singing the Jesus-songs and giving them to me for comfort when I was far from home for the first time.

Now, at night, after supper, after the daily daddy wrestling-match, after teeth-brushing and washing, my little family sits on the couch and reads God’s Word. Then we sing! And we dance. Our singing is not necessarily in tune, and our dancing is certainly not ballet or even in time, but we are enthusiastic as we rejoice in the Lord, we make a glad sound to him and we move our bodies in worship. And I pray that my kiddos are comforted and strengthened by the songs of Jesus, even as I am.

This is a prompt from the Gypsy Mama. Go check out her blog, and the other Five Minute Friday posts.

I’ve Been Making Stuff {1}

All kinds of fun projects have (somehow) been appearing around my house. I’ve been having a trial trying to find clothes that I like and that are appropriate without spending a ton of time and money. So, I tried making some. And I’ve loved it! I don’t have a lot of time (obviously), so I don’t know how long this will continue. But I am enjoying it right now. My skills are pretty limited, but it’s really fun to try, and most of my mistakes can be fixed if I’m patient enough. I made a high-low skirt that I think is super fun! I used some of the instructions from this blog post, but made it a little less full and poofy. I really love this fabric, it’s light and airy and colorful!

I also tried some more sewing with knits, and made a yoga-waistband skirt. Y’all, this is the easiest, and most comfy skirt. There are tons of tutorials all over the internet, but here’s the one I used.

An exciting facet of sewing clothes is that I can make MATCHING mama and girlie clothes! So baby girl got a super simple shift dress. I just kind of made the pattern for her dress up, using a onsie for the sizing around the neck. We wore our skirt and dress to church on Mother’s Day, and I had so much fun with my matching baby girl.

For me, making stuff is so refreshing and satisfying, and then getting to wear and enjoy them is even better! I love that the Lord made me to be creative, and gives me opportunities to produce things that are useful and pretty.

A Weekend in May

We have had a weekend of fun celebrations. We celebrated Bret’s birthday on Friday. He got special food and unique, one-of-a-kind art. I am so thankful that the Lord has given us this man to guide and shepherd our family. He is so patient, gentle, content, and kind. What a blessing!


Our sweet girlie turned 10 months old on Saturday. Even though we don’t do anything special for month birthdays, I do want to remember. She is pulling up, crawling some and army crawling a lot, eating everything in her path. She even knows where crumbs collect and goes searching for them. Talk about motivation to keep the floor clean!

She certainly has opinions, from delight in any animal she sees to anger at not getting something she wants. She is very willing and able to share them very audibly with us. She loves her brothers and daddy and always grins and starts excitedly babbling at them. She is sweet and happy for the most part, and such a delight to mother.

Our church had it’s 8th anniversary picnic on Sunday. I didn’t get to go because several of us were under the weather, but I did enjoy reflecting on all that the Lord has done to build up, purify, and grow His people together. I give thanks to God for the people of our church and His grace towards us shown through each other.

Again

This week, I loaded up my car and my three kids and drove someone I love to the airport. Again. Like all the times before, I watched him walk through the doors, waving with the boys until until we couldn’t see him anymore. I cried behind my sunglasses on the highway back home, again. And, as always, even though I miss my family scattered across the globe, I prayed to our God for them, and gave thanks to Him for using us for His kingdom. Again, I considered that the sacrifices of this present age are not worth comparing to what is kept in Heaven for us. I thought again that “Partir est mourir un peu” ~ parting is dying a little. And I am glad, again, that the parting hurts, glad that the Lord has given me a family that I love to be with, who are so very kind and loving to me, glad that it is such a sweet gift to be with them.

This is a prompt from the Gypsy Mama. Go check out her blog, and the other Five Minute Friday posts.

Anna {6 Months}

I can’t believe my sweet girlie is 6 months old! Anna is such a beautiful, happy gift from the Lord to our family! Baby girl lights up when she sees her brothers and daddy; and the boys always run up to give her “hugs and tisses.” They like to sit with her and show her books or toys when she’s having tummy time, or they get their blankies to come cuddle together.

Our Anna Rae weighs 15 lbs, 8 oz and is 25 inches long. She’s petite, but very healthy, and we give thanks to the Lord for that!

She’s learning to sit up, can roll over from front to back, and do some pretty good push-ups. She just got big enough for the jumper, and loves to bounce in it! She also loves peek-a-boo, and often pulls her blankie over her head to start a game.

She has two teeth and is working on a few more. Anna had her first bites of food on her 6-month birthday, and handled that pretty well. I think she was surprised, but didn’t really mind. She’s definitely interested in food and cups and will reach for mine with her whole body. I am so very thankful to the Lord for my sweet Anna Rae!

Anna {4 Months}

I can’t believe my sweet girl is already 4 months old. She is such a precious gift to our family! She is happy and easy-going. I think if she smiled any more or any bigger, she might explode into happiness glitter or something.

She always smiles the biggest for her daddy and big brothers. They delight in her, and I’m always finding them talking to her or cuddled up next to her. Levi especially like to make sure she has a dolly to hold, even when she’s in her crib asleep. I’m glad that kid can’t turn door handles yet.

She coos to us, laughs a bit, and loves to be wherever we are. She grabs anything she can reach and puts it straight in her mouth. She’s noticing colors and textures and likes to feel different things. Anna is discovering her feet, and I love to watch her trying to grab them. She’s rolled over a few times, but I don’t think she does it on purpose yet. 

Anna is growing so fast! She now weighs 13 pounds 10.5 ounces and is 24.5 inches long. I’m so thankful to the Lord for my sweet girl, and for the gladness she adds to our family.

2 {Allergen-Friendly} Recipe Reviews

Levi’s multiple food allergies have pushed me to completely change the way I cook, and also to explore new recipes. I always wish I could know if a recipe will work before I try it out, especially because the special ingredients can be pricey. So, I’m probably going to attempt to review new recipes every so often, in the hope that it will help someone in a similar situation.

Zucchini Brownies

This first recipe, I’ve made a few times now. It’s surprisingly delicious. They don’t taste exactly like traditional brownies, but I really like the flavor and texture. I’ve even taken it to a church meal and only came back with crumbs, which means they must be good brownies.  I amend it to be more chocolatey (of course), and add 1/2 cup cocoa to the batter. I really like the spice flavor that this recipe gives to the brownies. These were Levi’s first brownies. And I think I’ll be making them often for quite a while. I also like that they’re a bit more healthy than regular brownies.

Pumpkin Bread

This is a new recipe that I actually just tried tonight. It was pretty good. The flavor was not quite what my family likes, but the texture was really good. I think next time I’ll add more of each spice and maybe include some ginger, as well as a little extra salt and probably some more sugar. I just glanced at a few other pumpkin bread recipes, and they all included more spices and more sugar. I think this recipe is a good starting place, and am thankful to have found one that makes a good bread.

 

 

In both of these recipes I use a “flax egg” instead of the egg. A flax egg is ground flax seed and water mixed together. This makes something with an egg-like consistency, and has worked pretty well for me so far. Flax seed is also supposed to be really good for you, so that’s an added benefit.

 

Levi’s Second Birthday

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Levi’s second birthday! He is still figuring out what birthdays are, and it was fun to see his excitement and enjoyment of his special day. We began the day with birthday pancakes…and cuddles with his favorite people.

He loved opening and playing with his new toys.Best of all, Grandpa and Grammie came for a visit! What a sweet blessing to get to celebrate with them!

Happy birthday and love you sweet boy!