*"On your feet now---applaud GOD! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: GOD is God, and God, GOD. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Enter with the password: 'Thank you!' Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.
For GOD is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever."

(*Psalm 100 from The Message. I enjoy The Message on occasion, but mostly just for the Psalms and Proverbs. The pictures are from the beautiful day God gave me today, there is nothing like a cleansing rain! Thank you FATHER!)

Oh the Laundry....

A whole new world

Emma is reading! It is so exciting to see. She struggled with blending for a while but now she is reading sentences without any help. Kevin and I are so excited about this because we LOVE to read...we keep telling her that when she begins to read a whole new world will open up before her and we explain the many cool stories out there that she will be able to experience...her eyes light up as we both start telling her the stories that we loved as a child and still to this day, the thought of escaping into the magical world of a book, makes us feel as if we are children again, experiencing it for the first time.

In response to a comment/question....

Here is the Bible that I use for the kids Amy, and whomever else may be interested. You can read more about it or purchase it HERE
I looked at a lot of different children's Bibles before finding this one and I just love it, and the girls do too.

Rainy day fun

Super Soft Sugar Cookies:

2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar

(cream together)

then add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla (mix)

Another bowl add: 3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt (mix)

Add dry mix to wet mix
Roll dough into walnut size balls/roll balls in sugar/Place on unprepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart and press down with a glass. Bake at 350 for only about 4 min (my oven).

Soooooo good. The girls had fun helping me measure/mix/roll and most of all EAT. (I know Jamie, I cheated)

Making a mess is always fun, right?

Well, they seem to believe so....Thank you Gina for the 'Homemade Play Dough recipe'. We gave it a try yesterday. I thought, since this is not something I will need to eat later, I will let them do all the measuring, mixing, etc...themselves. They loved that, but it made a HUGE mess, which is worth it for the experience, right? (Well, that is what I keep telling myself)






The Dough came out very well and they played for almost 2 hours with it. I did make the mistake of leaving my food coloring on the counter and went down to get the laundry....yeah, you can guess what I walked back into....I didn't take any pictures at that point.

For those of you who are interested...find the recipe here.

Here is a smile

This picture makes me smile. This wasn't just a family photo--this was life, REAL LIFE--and a taste of what life felt like, at that time, was captured and I love to look at it and 'remember'.

There are not good memories connected to this picture, in fact, I don't think I remember those days at all, but that is why I love it because it helps me see that I survived and life is MUCH easier now. Those are not smiles on our faces, they are looks of acceptance. Emma was in her usual state during those days--half dressed, frustrated. The babies were in their usual state--one screaming, one sleeping ( there was always someone crying ). I am holding on to many pregnancy pounds, haven't had a shower in...ahh....'shower, what's a shower?", my clothes are full of spit-up, Kevin and I are just getting by, with him on 3 hrs of sleep and sleep for me....hmmmm, sleep, I don't think I remember that word back then. (Next time I decide to have twins, please remind me to live within at least 2 1/2 hours of knowing at least 1 person...that would have helped)
It is good to be on the other side...Time to finish enjoying my day!

Conversations

Emma: "Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a Farmer."

Nora: "I want to be a princess"

Hannah: "I want to be a baby sheep."


Hannah loves gum.
She has been obsessed with gum, (read old blog post for more info) but I only give it to her when I am driving and I want her to stay awake.

Today I made an exception and I gave her a half a stick and 20 minutes later I saw her hiding behind a chair next to my purse...I knew right away what she was doing and I called her on it.


Me: "Hannah, are you taking gum from my purse?"

Hannah: "No."

Me: "Hannah, tell me the truth, did you take gum from my purse?"

Hannah: "No mommy."

Me: "Hannah, hand me the gum. Now God knows the truth and it is a sin for you to lie to mommy. Did you take the gum from my purse?"

Hannah: "Yes" (Hannah is sent to the bathroom for her punishment)


Minutes later I am in there and I ask her "Hannah, why are you in here?"
and she says, "I took your gum and lied to you."
Then I asked her, "Hannah, why were you taking more gum?". (Kinda a dumb question and I assumed, because it would normally be the case, that her response would be, 'I don't know' )
but she looked at me right in the eye and said, "Mommy, I had a dream, and I wanted to take a lot of gum so I could make a white unicorn out of it."
It took every muscle in my body to keep a serious face and all I could say was, "oh, I see." You just NEVER know what they will say!

(Photos: My fresh flowers on a rainy day...I love fresh flowers!)

Hello winter

How quickly winter comes. Love the season but it is shocking how quickly it arrives. We went exploring in the woods around our place and found some really cool places to play.
I love for them to be able to climb, hang, dig, whatever...without having so many restrictions. The woods are just a great place for that. I can see it all over their faces that they just love the freedom as well.

and so we play....

A mind and body workout

Colors, textures, details,
Crunching, leaves dancing, giggles, silence,
cheers for achievements, smiles for hard work accomplished, rosy cheeks, fresh air, pine needles in my hair,


creation's beautiful cry from every angle, the urge wrap myself in the earth's blanket and bask in the sunlight, a cold nose,
cheers for victory, no prohibiting to climb, touch, grab--the freedom to enjoy, a heart shouting--"WHAT AN ARTIST YOU ARE GOD!"

Cold fingers, big smiles, happy hearts, TIME WELL SPENT.

A perfect day

All my readers know by now how much I love the rain. Today was just a perfect rainy day in New England and I had to venture out at one point to explore the beauty of it all. I want to save most of my photos for when I do my 'journal posts', you know the LONG posts that I need to fill with pictures in order to keep your interest. Here are a few though, that I thought I would share, to just give you all a taste of the beauty I experienced today.


This last one is the warmth and comfort of home....always need a candle burning somewhere.

Did I mention....

...I just love being home?!



Today was a rainy day...my favorite. We played all day, did some fun table activities and even had a special tea party for lunch. The girls came all dressed up and ready for the fun.

Daddy date

Hannah had her special 'daddy date' on Saturday. She was so excited about having this time with Kevin. She dressed herself, mostly in purple, and her choice was to go to the mall. (We recently went trickortreating at the mall so I think that is why because I NEVER take them to the mall, so I wouldn't know where she would have picked that up) Kevin took her out for a special lunch and they went in the toy store and she got a new stuffed animal. Hannah is such a giver though and she came home with special things for everyone.

Small but Strong

(Pictures/Title: Small but Strong because the little sunflower below was the only one that survived the last frost. Other pics are from the yard)



Most mornings I have devotions with the girls at breakfast. I have been reading from, The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I LOVE that book. I am saving the NT for Christmas and the New Year so we have started back at the beginning and are reading it over again. I read through the OT with them during the summer out of a more advanced Childrens Bible and so they already know most of the stories in true biblical form but this book has really helped pull all the stories into God's bigger plan, bringing Jesus into the world. It has been great for me. Here is a little taste....

(after Adam and Eve sinned and had to leave the garden) "....God loved his children so much to let the story end there. God had a plan. One day, he would get his children back. One day, he would make the world their perfect home again. And one day, he would wipe away every tear from their eyes. You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love his children--with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. And though they would forget him, and run from him, deep in their hearts, God's children would miss him always, and long for him--lost children yearning for their home. Before they left the garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve: 'It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you! And when I do, I'm going to do battle against the snake. I'll get rid of the sin and the dark and the sadness you let in here. I'm coming back for you!' And he would. One day, God himself would come."

Individual time

Individual time is something I love but hardly ever get. I need to make that time because I see it is so important for them and for me. Last week during 'rest time' I made the girls sleep. I could tell they really needed it, with their emotional shows. Nora fell asleep first so she was awake first. I rushed her downstairs to have some special time with her and it was wonderful. We had pumpkin seeds with tea and then cuddled on the couch to read some books. It was great for both of us. I need to MAKE that happen more often.

The 3 Red Riding Hoods

Yes, so they all wanted to be Red Riding Hood this year. I told them they needed to pick their costume from out of our dress up trunk and they all wanted to be the same thing. Kevin wasn't around so I just took them to the mall to do their thing. The whole car seat thing makes it hard to do door to door. The mall was crazy though. Too many people and I felt like it was a rat race to get candy before they ran out. Don't think I will do that again. They love dress up...to use their imaginations...and being outdoors really adds to the whole excitement of the night. They still had a blast though....