How do I know who to Marry?

This was the question that my 5 year old daughter asked me the other night.  As I was snuggling in bed with her, waiting for daddy to come up to say goodnight, Peanut quietly asks this.  "Hmm..Well,  that's why I pray for your future husband.  So that when the time comes you will know."  She processed this and then asks, " What if you like 2 boys and you don't know which one to marry?"  Oh boy. "And what if you love a boy, but he doesn't love you as much as you love him?" Well,  "Or what if a boy loves you more than you love him?"  I think I said something like, "Well, you need to pray and ask God to show you which one is truly the one that He would want for you." And to answer the other two, it was something like this. "Then you should end the relationship to be fair and understanding of their feelings."
My chirpy little girl then kept on dreaming, during the snuggle time, of her future wedding.
Statements coming out of her mouth like, "I want my wedding colors to be Purple and Pink and definitely Blue." "Mama? Who will be my flower girl and ring carrier?  We don't know any little kids!"  To which I answered, " Maybe Monkey will be married and have a kid so they can be your ring bearer/flower girl."  "Yeah, that might work.  But what if it's a baby?  A baby can't do that."  I then said, "Well, one of your bridesmaids could bring the baby down the aisle with them."  Peanut processed this. "Ok.  Baby T will be the one carrying the baby down, since she is going to be my bridesmaid."  "I don't know who else will be my bridesmaids though.  What if I can't think of anyone?"

Phew!  Did I mention that this is an actual dialog that I had with her?  She is 5 not 25?  When Monkey came into the room she told him her plans to have his children be in her wedding. 
It was difficult not to laugh at some parts of this conversation, but the whole time I just kept praying.  "God, keep her dreaming.  Prepare her for the man that is going to be her helpmate.  Prepare him to be the man of God that she needs him to be.  I pray that she listens to You and sees the man that you have prepared for her.  "
I love this girl with all of my heart.  She keeps me thinking.  I wonder what Peanut will be like when she is ready to walk down that aisle to the man that she has been dreaming about most of her life.  Thank You, Father for this amazing and beautiful person, thank you that you have given her to us.

June 10 on 10

1.  Good Morning!  My little snugglebug waking us up this morning.
2.  Monkey and his Best Buddy on the last day of school!
3.  Monkey and his teacher.
4.  Strawberry plants
5.  Rhubarb, yummy!
6.  Peanut
7.  Playing in the sandbox
8.  Tree swing
9.  Monkey and his buddy playing the Wii
10.  Polly Pocket or racing car?  Hmm..

The month of April

April started with the 1st.  As does every month.  But we know that it is April Fool's Day, and until you have kids it is a day that gets a little forgotten.  My older two kids are now truly understanding the "Fool" part of the day.  Starting off the morning with a "Mom, there is a horse coming down our road! Come look!"  Let me set up the scenario for you.  We live in town and on a road that is a main bus line.  So while this may seem like a gimme in the "I'm fooling you" department it wasn't.  Just 2 summers ago we had a moose that was roaming through town and we see the occasional coyote too.  Oh, and may I just add that this was done BEFORE my morning cup of coffee!  So, both Jeremy and I went to look out the window and before we could say anything we heard the snickers of Monkey and Peanut going on behind us.  Then they both loudly said, "APRIL FOOLS!"  "WE SO GOT YOU!"  Yes you did, my dear children.  Yes you did.  When did they grow up?  I can remember trying to explain jokes to them and it not really registering in their little minds.  Now I am thinking about all of the future April Fool's Days that we have to look forward to!  I am hoping that they are all as benign as this past one.  Somehow, I doubt it.
We have also been madly finishing our basement.  This is a huge time vacuum.   It is almost there and this requires a whole post on it's own with pictures.  Maybe another time.
As the month progressed I was thinking about T's birthday.  She was turning 1!  In all the preparations of that I nearly forgot that my own birthday was the day before.  I said nearly.  I didn't forget and neither did my wonderful husband.  Sweet baby T and I shared our cake, because really, how much cake can one person eat in a week!  Ok, don't answer that!  My folks and one of my brothers came over to help celebrate an eventful weekend.
After the birthday celebration weekend we had a fairly low key week before we celebrated Easter.  I love Easter.  It is such a great reminder of why I am a Christian.  I am so humbled to think of the love that our Savior has for us, for me.  Mind blowing really.  Anyway, the Saturday before we had our town egg hunt that even the baby was able to participate in.  Then Sunday, the kids donned their Easter outfits and did quick Easter basket hunt and then we were off to church.  After church we were invited to some friends farm for Easter supper and egg hunt.  It was fabulous!  Ever have one of those friends that when you walk into their home you immediately feel as if it's your own?  Physically, it was so different than our own families, but the energy, chaos and warmth felt the same.  There were ALOT of kids running around, which was so great!  And plenty of grown ups to just hang out and be together.  We had an amazing time and I am so thankful for these friends of ours.  We love them!
Now this week, we are slowing down and having a quieter week.  I am thankful for the eventful month that we have had.  Next month looks to be a little less hectic but then we have to gear up for Monkey's 8th birthday at the end of it!  How is he going to be 8?

                               Peanut, in the brown sweats and white shirt, loves soccer. 

                                              Sweet Baby T, 12 months old.

 Monkey wanted his hair cut into a mohawk, until he saw what it looked like and then he had me shave it off!  The idea appealed to him but he isn't a boy who likes to experiment with hairstyles.

                                Peanut and the rest of the town at the egg hunt.

                                     Going through their loot at the egg hunt.

                                                             At the farm on Easter.

                                          I hope that everyone has had an amazing and blessed April!

April 10, 2011

With this morning starting with church it can be a little challenging to get my pictures when I am supposed to be listening to our pastor.  I had my camera out at one point, because I thought it would be a great picture to take of everyone praying, but my husband nudged me and told me it was a bit inappropriate.  Ok.  Maybe so. I was just trying to get my picture for the hour!  So, later I made a trip to the fabric store and also went around looking for signs of Spring. With all of that in mind...
Here is my April 10 on 10!

Table for 5: March 10 on 10

Table for 5: March 10 on 10

Sweet Baby T

Sometimes we joke about the "T" meaning, 'trouble', or 'tenacious'.  She is those things and more.  I see that in her looks and personality she is a blend of both the older two.  Determined is another word to describe this sweet baby girl. 
Our morning usually starts off around 6:30 +/- with me going in and getting the little babe.  Nursing her and trying to coax a little more sleep time while I nurse her.  At about 7 the older two come down to start their day.  Before I can let T roam around, we have to make sure the baby gate is closed and the dog water is up.  If either of these things aren't done, our sweet little one will find out about it and head for one of the two.  It's inevitable! 
At 10 1/2 months she has 6 teeth and when she hugs us she also bites.  While this wasn't a bad thing when it was all gums, it's now proving to be a bit painful.  The saying, "Love hurts" has taken on a whole new meaning! 
T also loves my hair.  And I don't mean just in a hair pulling kind of way, but she likes to put it in her mouth (yuck!) and when she is nursing, she plays with my hair instead of her own.  If it's in a pony tail she searches around until she can find it.  Even if that is my bangs!
She loves her older brother and sister so much!  The squeals that she gives them is so cute!
Her walking around is getting surer and more confident as the days go by.  Just this week we have seen her go from walking only in one room to walking through all of the rooms! 
T is also quite the snuggler.  She will be so busy roaming around and then you turn around and she needs to be picked up to get a hug and kiss and then she is off again on another adventure.  What a blessing this little girl has been to our family.

                                                       Baby T 10 months old

                                                                Catching snowflakes

                                                                Hmmm....do I dare?

(Notice her princess castle?  I love my new Slice machine.  It's like a Cricut, but it was not as expensive.  You can use both machines for fabric!  Who knew?  But it's a custom shirt made for her by me!)

  That is a day in the life of our sweet girl.

March 10 on 10

I saw this on a friends blog.  Every 10th of every month she posts 10 things in her life that day.  Well, here are 10 of mine.
There are more exciting days but as you can see, we are having a very gray and dreary day.  Mud, mud and more mud.  Monkey is growing his hair out.   I'm not sure why since he hates to brush it, but oh well!