The Horse Whisperer

Meet our horse lover.




Mary looks forward to our time at the equestrian center for her "job."




Her job description is as follows:

-brush the horses


-help the teacher set up and take down jumps

-feed yummies to the horsies

-pet 'em like nutty


She knows most of them by their name.






You absolutely can not pass through this little horsey lane without getting some "cat calls" from these guys....

"Howz about a kiss, baby?"


"Back off Kodak, she wants these hot, green lips."


-yeah, this guy was a little hyper.


She could spend hours upon hours here. When it's time to go, I have to put a lead rope on her and drag her away. :o)



You know the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand word?"








I have nothing left to say. :o)

Special Friends

A few weeks ago, Great Papa came for a sleep over. He wanted to get up bright and early and take Matthew turkey hunting. They scouted the woods the night before.




Matthew jumped out of bed with excitement to get ready. Papa gave him layer after layer of camouflage to put on. He was in his glory!


First, they set up the "decoy." -for those of you who don't know what a decoy is. It's basically a hot, faker of a turkey that attracts the boys. -you know much like what we see on the magazine covers.

I can't tell you how many times I walked by the window and gasped because I thought the decoys were real. Actually, if I did tell you how many times I stopped and gasped, I would embarrass myself, so I choose not to.

HUH! WHAT??!!! MATT! It's a.....oh. -never mind.

-Admit it, you all gasped because you thought it was real.



And now, the waiting begins...nothing sweeter than sitting next to your pal in the quietness of the early morning.




Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God:

Staring at his creation, I can't help but think about Him.



I am enjoying these mountains because of Him.

I am enjoying the sunsets because of Him.




I am enjoying my family because of Him.



I am breathing because of Him.


Proverbs 18:24
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother

And again....nothing sweeter than the quietness of the morning with your friend.

My little encourager

The other day, I quickly ran to get something off of my desk and found these....

Mary has always been my thoughtful little girl. Joel and I will find notes on our bed, at our bathroom sinks, or on the stairs. She has such a tender heart. Thank you for the surprise, Mary. You make me smile.

Memorial Day 2009

Today, I am saying thank you to all those who fought and are fighting for our country. It's not Memorial Day, but I don't want to just be thankful on that day. It was so sweet when Joel went out on Memorial Day to put the flag up with Annie by his side. It was one of the moments where I stood back, and just stared at that flag, flapping in the wind...feeling so thankful and so proud of our country.
This daddy can stand here next to his little girl, because someone else's daddy sacrificed his time with his little girl. We are so blessed to have freedom. It's not something I wake up and think about every day, but because I enjoy the benefits every day,it should be. I don't ever want to be so consumed with Memorial Day being a day off from work/a day off from school or the national "hot dog and hamburger day" that I forget what this day is all about. I want our children to know that they can have a special day with their daddy, only because someone else had to sacrifice their "daddy time."



"You make me happy, Daddy!"



"You love me, don't you?"



"I love you, too."

GROSS! No really, I mean it this time!

Flowers are blooming.




Grass is growing.

Bikes are cruising up and down the driveway.



And Matthew is hunting.




Before you start singing with the birds and thinking that this is just another "fairy tales can come true" post, keep reading...



When I clicked "upload," this picture became as big as life on my computer screen! I yelled, "EWWWWWW!" so loud that Joel came to see what had alarmed me so terribly. My toes were curled and my legs raised under this desk! I can't even stand to look at these things.

"What's in there?" you may ask.


Remember I risk my life to bring you the news around here. So, just for you, here goes....




Soooo creepy! I hate 'em. I really do.


Just look at those eyes.




As soon as Matthew captured him, he came running inside to retrieve a book. He had to read about his habitat, his diet, his favorite music. -ok not the last one.

Matthew learns the best when he is out there..."one with nature. " He read that garter snakes like small toads.



So, off he went to find some poor, innocent, little baby toads. It wasn't long before he found not one, but two. -Double the death, double the snack, double chin for Mr. Snake. When he dropped the first toad in, the snake wasted no time. He lunged at the toad, and lapped him up. Then he burped and said, "Thankssssssssssssss." -just a little snake humor there for ya. The sick thing was every time the snake's tongue went out, you could see little, toady remnants on it. -ohh, gag. I'm gagging myself. (Sorry, Mom.) We didn't actually see him eat the second one, but let's just say that the other little guy went m.i.a.


After all that death, Matt laid down next to the cage, and watched the bulge in the snake's belly move down his long disgusting, slithery body. He wanted to watch the toad digest. -So sick....so repulsive...so morbid....and, so boy!
So long. I successfully grossed myself out with this one.

Before and after picture

Just a little example to show you how iphoto can really take a picture to a new level.

This is the shot I took straight out of the camera.




After some tweaking, this is what it became.


Of course, it's helpful to have two beautiful subjects to photograph. :o) Isn't this baby so yummy? I could eat her up!

Happy Birthday, Mary and Emma!

(THEN)



(NOW)


Today Mary turned 10 and Emma turned 6. I know the phrase all too well, "time flies." Scrolling from the first picture to the next seems like the last 6 years have gone by just that fast. I love being a mom. I love it that our girls share a birthday. I love it when we sing "Happy Birthday", and everyone gets tongue twisted because they have to squeeze in two names. I love it that Mary and I cooked her birthday dinner together for the first time this year. I love it that the first things the kids wanted to do this morning was give their presents to their sisters.

I love it that Annie's little present to Mary was the worst wrapping job I've ever seen. :o)


I love it that Emma values her "hatch a chicken" egg from Mikey as precious as the Hope diamond.




I love it that Cinderella showed up tonight at dinner.


I love it that Daddy gave each of the girls their own card that he picked out, containing a gift card tucked inside for a special dinner date, just the two of them. I love it that Emma hugged Joel for so long, his face turned purple.

I love it when Emma opens her presents, she squeals, "MARY! look!!" because the excitement is too much for her to enjoy all by herself.




I love it when the kids all laugh together at a joke, and Joel and I don't get. I love every moment that I'm a mom to these precious ones!



I love it that even though it rained today, we had sunshine all day long.



Love your moments, because your moments are your life!

My sweet girls,
The Bible says that our lives are like a vapor. It's here and then it's gone. Why is is that your vapor seems quicker than mine? I wish I could make time stand still, but that's selfish, I know. I love being your mom. Sometimes, when I think about you, my eyes fill with tears, and I whisper "thank you" to the Lord. I still can't believe that God said I could take care of you for Him. You each are loved more than you can ever know!!! Daddy and I will never be the perfect parents, but we serve the perfect God, and we pray that's what you see. We promise you that by His strength, we will do our best to teach you to love him with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.
Happy Birthday! I love you my sweethearts!

Annie and the dentist

Annie went to the dentist for the first time.





Yeah...didn't go so well.




So, in rebellion against the hygienist for ruining Annie's day, we went to the store and bought lollipops to rot out the teeth...




Then off to work to get a hug from Daddy and Uncle Mike.
It ended up being a good day.

Warning! Severe Thunderstorm

Severe thunderstorms = severely scared children!

Mikey walked into my room and said in a trembling, weak voice, "Mommy ....I'm scared." As much as I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, cuddle him and take his fears away, I knew my help would only take him so far. God will be with him long after I'm gone, and I want Mikey to learn to place his fears in God's hands. I reminded our precious boy of Psalm 56:3, "What time I am afraid, I will......" He finished the verse, "trust in Thee." I explained to him that "trusting" is easy on the "sunshiney days." It's usually during the stormy times that trusting is the hardest. The thunderstorm had come in rather quickly now. To be honest, I was pretty nervous myself. The thunder was loud and with each crack of lightning, there was an even louder boom of thunder. It was right above us. As I looked into the blue eyes of the little boy that God gave me, I saw fear. "Let's pray." So, right in the midst of the thunder crashing over our house, we prayed. Mikey said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm afraid. Can you make the storm go away?" When we finished, Mikey looked up at me. The storm was still here, but I could see comfort in those same eyes. He smiled, and we hugged. We walked into the kitchen to watch the storm with the others. Within 3 minutes, this is what happened...



Why am I even surprised?

God wasn't done yet. After I snapped that last shot, I turned around and gasped!!

This is what I saw.













He gives us above and beyond what we could ever ask or think.





I ran outside. I was soaking wet, and snapping pictures, saying, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you for showing yourself to our little boy!"



Trust Him, my little man!



PS We still made the chocolate chip cookies and cuddled...only it wasn't me that took away his fear, and gave him a rainbow, instead. :o)