treasures

It's Sunday evening and I'm sitting on the couch watching my children dance to Jackie Evancho's version of Nella Fantasia. They stretch out their arms, twirl round and round, then giggle as they get dizzy and fall to the ground or bump into each other. The sounds of happy children; there really isn't anything quite like it. Sometimes it is good to sit for a moment and appreciate what we have been given, to find the good in what we have been given, to enjoy what we have been given. It could all be gone in a moment. Life goes so fast and it is so very easy to get caught up in the mundane that the treasures pass us by.

To help me remember, I would like to share some recent treasures.

- My son has the funniest expressions. They make me smile. "Buzzert" - dessert. "Butterfly sword" - flyswatter. He gets close to Claire and whispers, "Hello, my beauty." He is driving his tractor on the floor and looks at Elauna and says, "Get out of the field." :-) Oh, it still makes me laugh. He runs up to me and says, "Let's play the game 'It's nice to meet you'" and sticks out his hand to practice meeting someone. He just giggles when I shake his hand.

- I wanted to go shopping with my mom and told Elauna that she wasn't going because I might look for a present for her upcoming birthday and it wouldn't be a surprise if she saw. She told me "three is enough {presents}, I don't need any more." She grabbed my hand and looked at me...she wanted to be with me more than getting a present.

- The toys take a long time to get cleaned up because it is as much a game to put them away as it was to  make the mess in the first place. The dozer, backhoe, and grain wagon get used to transport each toy....normally one at a time...to the proper location. Speed is seldom a factor, nor is my agitation.

- Miss Claire broke Elauna's bracelet and Elauna brought me the pieces. "Can you put my beedles back together?"

- Elauna tells me, "You're the best mommy ever!" {at least she thinks so and that is good enough for me, it is my own treasure}

- Those priceless video moments when I am taking pictures of my children and pan from one to the other....and when I get to Frederick his finger is up his nose. {I laughed later.} Boys do so many things that you dare not react to while they are doing them.

- My children name their toys after family and friends. They spend hours going to "Mimi and Papa's farm" (the toy barn), then driving to "church" (the couch), then to "camp"(under the desk), then off to one of their aunt's houses. The Duplo people have been named and stuffed into a toy car or tractor and round and round they go. Right now Frederick is asking, "How 'bout this be Eli?" and off he rides on the Duplo horse. Imaginations are a wonderful thing.

- My parent's horses are named Adam Raynyday, Lovey, Blackbird and Sunny.  {above mentioned Duplo horses have been named after them: "Rainyday", "Sunnyday" "Doveydovey", and "Blackbird" went unchanged}

- Miss Claire squeals with delight to play with her brother and sister. She gets the biggest smile when she sees people she knows. Oh, and if I'm barefoot she will sneak up and bite my toe. :-) {do you love a child? tell them. hug them if you can. they know}

Yes there are trials, and discipline required, but I don't want that to be the culmination of my memories....or their memories for that matter. I want my children to know I enjoy being with them. So if you stop by and the house is a mess, I am probably dancing with my children.

in the library

We love books at our house. We blame it on our parents because they wanted us to read for some reason. Truly though, when you find the joy in reading you can teach yourself to do anything, and your imagination can take you so many places. The mind is so fascinating. So if you haven't read a good book lately, pick one up and snuggle by the fireplace (and if you don't have a fireplace at home, head to your local Panera). As much as I love technology, there is still something about holding a book in your hands and flipping the pages that feels so down to earth.

Books everywhere....I love the hues of old books

the library

Claire with her book

Yes, he is reading Cinderella

I love history, especially local history, and I have a gem of a book in my library. My mother bought me this book, History of Miami County Ohio 1880 by W. H. Beers. I love reading it because is recalls the everyday life of men and women of another era, and they were the pioneers of the very county where I live. The stories are true accounts. Some of the stories are hilarious (Rival Lovers, Corn Husking, Temperance Talk...because corn husking was always done with whisky). Other stories make me appreciate the time in which I live (Capture of the Moffit Boys, Killing of Dilbone and his Wife, Scalping of Mrs. Martin). Why is history important? A better question: why is it important that history is not rewritten to suit our culture today? Because people who gave their lives for faith, family and country deserve to have the truth remembered. I'm a little passionate about this. I live in America, but American history is being rewritten to exclude the Christian foundation upon which our country was built. Twelve stones in the Jordan.....remember the truth!

Ma'am, please don't smile.

by design

For years I have loved graphic design and I still get to do it pro-bono. I first got the taste for helping other people through my design when I was in college working for the state of Ohio. I was a small business consultant and it was my job to help people with their businesses, and my speciality was brand management and corporate imaging. It was so fun! I never had to charge a dime and was able to see the joy on people's faces when there was improvement in their company.

I wanted to share two fun projects I have done recently. The first is for my sister who wanted an owl for upcoming birthday parties. I think she is cute.

The second project I did this week is for my friend who is heading for the mission field next year and needed a prayer card. I was really excited she allowed me to be a part of her ministry. Thanks Laura! You can read more about her ministry at www.lauraschaefer.theworldrace.org.

Now you know a little of what I do for fun.

farm country

It was harvest time at redpepper farms this past weekend, and it sure was fun. The kids loved riding in the machinery - combine, tractor, and semi - and even helped walk the fields to pick up corn that fell off the combine. Jeremy had a really nice planting of corn and we were blessed with the produce this year. How great was the feeling to fall into bed each night exhausted knowing you had done a hard days work.

Combine filling grain hopper

Tractor and grain hopper pulling up to semi

Blake driving tractor with helper Frederick

Next rows to run

Jeremy carrying Elauna to ride in combine

Grain hopper filling trailer on semi

Claire gets a kiss from dad while waiting at the elevator

Blake carrying Frederick to the tractor

Jeremy and Blake

Drink station

"The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest." Psalm 85:12

"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness."   2 Corinthians 9:10

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."   Galatians 6:9

morgan

Morgan

Six years ago my husband bought me this beautiful brindle Boxer for my birthday. I had really wanted a dog and I love Boxers, so we found someone who had bred a litter locally and met with them. They had one puppy left, the runt. The day I met her I fell in love with her. She was the sweetest little thing and we bonded instantly. She rode on my lap in the car the whole way home. As we didn't have children yet, Morgan was with us all the time. She was the prettiest Boxer I had ever seen, with book-matched coloring on her back. I loved that her ears hadn't been clipped to stand up, but flopped down naturally. She loved to play ball, jump so high in the air it was over my head, wiggle her behind when she was excited, and greet us when we came home.

Forgive me if I have spelling errors because I can't see through my tears. We lost our little dog tonight after she was hit by a car. I was tidying the back porch where she slept and kept wishing I had done one more thing better for her. I miss her terribly.

Some of my favorite Morgan memories...
- she chewed the tips of my black leather heels
- she taught Elauna how to sniff like a dog
- she rode if the back of the car everywhere with us
- she went on walks with me through the field
- she ate a whole box of Christmas chocolate and I made burnt toast for her
- she chewed my Christmas tree skirt looking for candy in the presents
- she would open the doors by herself to go in and out
- she loved playing football with Frederick
- she would run right in front of Jeremy while he drove the tractor
- she loved finding the skunk
- she was so good with all the children

leading the kids on a walk

Goodbye old friend!

pulled pork chili

I had some leftover pulled pork in the fridge and wanted to make a warm fall meal. I threw together a few ingredients for chili, cooked some noodles, added some cheese, and dinner was ready. Yum!

Pulled Pork Chili

2 pounds cooked pulled pork
2 16oz cans diced tomatoes
2 16oz cans light red kidney beans
2 16oz cans tomato sauce
1 1.4lb can whole black beans
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt
pepper

Warm the pork, add tomatoes, sauce, and beans. Simmer. Add spices and continue to simmer until flavors blend. Serve warm over pasta. Top with cheese.

weekend project: songbook wreath

songbook wreath

This is a super easy project to make for those who like wreaths. I personally like natural or neutral wreaths that don't attract too much attention, yet add a little something to the decor.  For this project you will need four things:

1. a foam wreath (I purchased mine from JoAnn's)
2. an old songbook (I typically don't tear up books, but this one was falling apart)
3. white muslin (scrap material works just as well)
4. push pins

Take the muslin and cut into 3-inch strips. Wrap the strips around the wreath to cover the foam. Next take the pages from the songbook and neatly wad into rosettes. Take the pushpin and push rosette into topside of the wreath. I put the first rosette in, then did the next one 90-degrees around and so on, and then filled in evenly. You can dress it up with ribbon to suit your color scheme, or a flower too. 

foam wreath

muslin, songbook, and push pins

the rosettes pinned on the wreath