You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2008.
The plague (flu) seems to have descended upon our house. At least descended upon Scott and myself. Oh dear.
Here are two great links, well worth reading. They are short and only take a minute.
Holiness and Humility from Amy’s Humble Musings. Very good. She has a wonderful way of wording truth.
Feminist Folly from Nancy Wilson. Also very good. The above comment on wording truth applies to this woman as well.
Something else. We are still looking at house plans, and have discovered this house. Dreamy! And even better, this house was featured in a book that we are looking at, Creating the Not So Big House. We were able to glance through it (the book, not the house) whilst on a date to the bookstore last weekend (thanks Mom and Dad!) and are very excited about it, so far.
In other news, we have moved Asher into the toddler bed. So far, he’s doing well, although he is dropping his morning nap which makes staying in bed a little harder for him. We’ll get it figured out.
Here he is, awake…
Awake…
Awake…
And he’s out. Sigh. Peaceful dreams.
Hope everyone is having a fabulous week!
I think I mentioned awhile ago that I was going to try my hand at embroidery. Well, while I was in Germany I had the time to work on it a little, and I made this.
Just to see what I could do with tracing shapes, and practicing a couple different kinds of stitches. I wanted to learn more about it, especially learn how to do different embroidery stitches, and when I returned from my trip, this was waiting for me in the mail from Mom!
Be still my heart. Everything I’ve always wanted to know about embroidery, and it’s a book from my grandmother (mom’s mom)! Which makes it even better! Embroidery, both looking at it and doing it myself, reminds me of Grandma Simmons. So I am happy to be learning from her book.
Ivy went to a little birthday party for a friend last weekend, and I’ve been meaning to post about the gift we took. Ivy helped make it, which made it even more fun. I got the idea from here.
A blank book, covered in fancy paper, and a little miniature legal pad, also covered in fancy paper. The girls each chose some ribbon to give, and I let them choose their own ribbon designs from the bin at Micheal’s, which was interesting. We also found some sticker paper doll books (one Cinderella, one Princess), and tied some colored pencils together. You can’t see the little purple envelope we put inside the box lid, into which we stuffed 2 homemade birthday cards from the girls, and some fun stickers for the birthday girl.
Excuse the dark and fuzzy atmosphere in these pictures. I seem to be a bit rusty lately in my photography skills. Sigh.
In other news, we finally have some furniture to complete our bedroom! Making our bedroom nice and and a pleasant place to be has been kind of a vision of Scott’s (and mine) for awhile. We were going to invest in some furniture this spring to match a piece we already have (from here) but, lo and behold, I just happened to check on craigslist and someone had some matching pieces for sale! We never thought this would happen. So after much arranging, emails, wondering if we were going to get it at all, and work to get it out of the woman’s house (many thanks to Paul who helped Scott. I held doors open. Women’s work.), we brought it home.
Here is a sweet picture of Charlotte and Asher. Charlotte loves Asher. She loves him. Much more like a playmate than a little mommy to him, and he just adores her. They often sit together when something is playing on the tv.
Scott had the rare opportunity to get a little movie of them, watching a movie together. Enjoy!
I just can’t help it. You may have seen this before, but it is just so cute I had to include it.
Have a good day!
We have recently discovered this song. I love the music, too…there is some banjo in there, and we love the sound of that around here. You can listen to an excerpt here, Track 4. You can also learn more about the music here.
The words are so excellent, and I just saw that the writer dedicated the song to his wife.
Whatever my God ordains is right
He never will deceive me
He leads me by the proper path
I know He will not leave me
I take content, what He has sent
His hand can turn my griefs away
And patiently I wait his day…
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, or need, or death be mine
Yet I am not forsaken
My Father’s care circles me there…
And so to Him I leave it all
-”Whatever My God Ordains is Right” from In A Little While.
This morning, I also found this little video. I have a feeling it’ll be a frequently-requested one once the girls get a glimpse of it. Might have to get the cd for the kids before too long…sounds like we might like these people.
We have been able to play outside quite a bit this week, due to the amazingly warm weather the past few days. Asher loves it, and it’s so nice that he walks and can kind of tool around by himself and play.
He toddled over to me at one point, though,
and I realized he had dirt flecks all over his lips and in his teeth.
Didn’t seem to mind it, though,
and he spent the rest of his time outdoors carrying a rock, a stick, or both, clutched in his chubby fist.
He also kept looking around for me, I think to see if I was watching him
so he could eat more dirt, in secret.
The girls have enjoyed the time outside too…it makes us all hungry for spring.
Our friends came over a couple days ago, and what a treat to have Natalie play outside with us!
Isn’t she a pretty girl? I kept trying to take a picture of her and she would say, “I’m goin’ turn away! Don’t want my picture taken!” What a cutie!
She and Charlotte sure have fun together. Especially digging through the leaves out in the “secret place.”
This small area, our “secret place”, is the extent of the trees in our yard right now. Someday in the not-too-far future, we hope to move out of a neighborhood altogether and get some acreage, peace, and quiet to surround our house.
We got a new table and chairs for the girls for homeschooling, and they are working wonderfully! There is room to spread out, for coloring, crafts, and writing. Sigh. A relief.
Here’s a funny movie…Asher likes to do some fancy footwork, and his favorite way to do it is with his sisters. Music is optional. The other best part of this movie is his spontaneous hug for Mommy…often, when he is playing or looking at books, he will stop whatever he’s doing and race over to Mommy for a big hug. Dancing is no exception. He is such a sweet boy, and he just loves to come to Mommy for a hug.
This was my phrase of choice for the past week or so. That, and “Danke!” I had the rare and wonderful opportunity to visit my very good friend Melissa, in Germany, and it was fabulous to see her! What a treat to sit and just talk and laugh and talk some more. (Oh, and eat amazing European chocolate…ahem.)
Here are some pictures I brought back. Rene and Melissa live in Southern Germany, near the border of France. Beautiful. For some reason, the most pictures I took were during a day trip to visit a castle near the Austrian border. I’ll share just a couple.
These are pictures of the Alps. The real deal! Ridiculously beautiful, and the best part was they were all right there. No restricted access, no national parks prohibited to the public. We could have climbed an Alp, had we the energy.
Here is the castle we visited. Schloss Neuschwanstein (and every bit as difficult to pronounce!). Amazing.
Okay. That’s it for the scenic photos. Here’s one more, with people.
Another update tomorrow, with pictures (and a movie! Of Asher dancing!) of the children. Stay tuned.
