GOD IS IN CONTROL

What a crazy time we are living in right now, don't you agree?

This Covid-19 virus is terrorizing the world.

Schools are closed.

Government offices are closed.

Many "non-essential" businesses are closed.

Even some churches have shut their doors.

Curfews are in place.

Quarantines abound.

Just today 25 people were laid off from my husband's place of employment.

Through it all, God's Word says that there is nothing new under the sun.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that should be a comfort to us.

Philippians 4:6-7 says
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 says
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Luke 21:25-28
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

I could go on and on..during this time of fear and uncertainty--LOOK UP
God is in control.

TAKIN' A TRIP (PART 2)

I'm sorry to say that this post has been a draft for quite a very long time. 

This was back in May almost a year ago, when we went traveling to KY.

We stayed with some lovely friends who graciously opened their home to us for two nights.

They have their own private lake which we were able to enjoy.

Games with new friends!

More lake pictures..

Leaving Monday morning..

trying to get a group shot before we hit the road.

Thanks so much for opening your home to us!
It was nice to catch up and meet the kiddies.

ONE

This love bug, our rainbow baby, turned one this week.  ONE!  

That was a fast year.  He is all over the place-standing, climbing on things.  Not quite a walker yet though.  Soon, soon.  I was hoping he would be walking to start up the new co-op year, but looks like that is not going to happen.  

He is eating regular food, he skipped baby food completely, and still nursing.  Sleeping pretty well, but sometimes still likes to wake up for a snuggle.

He says a couple of words (uh-oh, more, and hi) bur communicates pretty well without words.

He adores his biggest brother and sister (he loves everyone else too, but its extra special with them), pretending to talk on the phone, and The Wiggles.  He's got a bit of mischief in there that is starting to come out more.  I'm sure that will make it extra "fun" when he does start walking!!

Happy Birthday!!  We thank the Lord for the gift of you!!

PROJECT 4TH

This year we had a "work day" on the 4th of July in preparation for the big "13th" birthday party!

A small garden in front of the porch..

It was so disgustingly hot outside...

But we got it done..

And then were super thankful for the pool to cool down in!

How did you spend the 4th of July?

(fireworks were on the 5th this year, so we did that the following day)

TAKIN' A TRIP (part 1)

Hey, ya'll!

 It's been quite a break I've taken and lots going on in the meantime.

I certainly won't be catching up on it all, but I do want to document the trip we just took.

Co-op finished on May 16th and we headed out May 17th.  Lots and lots of packing took place between those two days just due to the craziness of the season that didn't allow for any extra time.  It worked out though.

We left a little after noon on May 17th and headed down to Maryland to visit with Mike's twin and his family.  We arrived around 5pm and had dinner with them before heading out around 8pm. Unfortunately, I don't think we took any pictures while we were there.

We were heading for Western Kentucky.

Suffice it to say, it was a really, really long night.

I would not do the overnight trip again, it was really rough.

You might be thinking it was the kids--nope!

Kids were perfect travelers the entire time.  We swapped on and off driving when one of us got tired, stopped briefly a couple times for bathroom and a quick shut-eye, but it still was really rough.  West Virginia was full of fog..super thick crazy fog.  We drove through some torrential rain..but thankfully, by God's grace, we arrived shortly after 7am in Western Kentucky.  We went for breakfast at the Huddle House (more about that in another post) and arrived at the Crick place around 9:30am.

We spent the day with them.

It had been many years since we had last seen each other and the kids had never met.

Lots of wide open space!

We had a nice day visiting and catching up.

We headed out after dinner sometime between 5:30 and 6pm to travel another hour or so south to our home for the weekend.

Since, these pictures are taking a pretty long time to load this morning, I'll end this post here.

Thanks so much for your hospitality, Joanna and Curt!

AGE

Once upon a time I said I wanted to be done with child-bearing by the age of thirty.

I had visions of being a young (er) parent, like the generations before me.

However, I married later than they and thus got a later start...

Plus, Mike and I have never really experienced married life "alone" as our oldest is a honeymoon baby.  I thought it might be nice to have that "alone" time later on and still be "young" enough..

So much for MY plans, huh? 

It is true in a sense that age is just a number.. our youngest was born well into my thirties and we wouldn't trade him for anything.

As I look at things now, I see huge blessings in having the age gap from the eldest to youngest.

People often will say things to the tune of "Wow!  It must be so hard" etc. etc. etc. but to be honest, as the older ones get older, the baby years get "easier" as I have more helpers around to do various tasks.

(Notice, I did NOT say everything is easier..whats the phrase?  "Little kids, little problems" and vice versa).  No longer do I have to do EVERYTHING by myself.  I can have one of the big kids run and switch a load of laundry or get lunch together or rock the baby as necessary.  

It is beautiful to see the older kids interacting with the little one.  It is truly a joy.  I also hear about all these empty-nesters who mourn the loss of the noise and chaos and people...With a bigger age span, it is highly unlikely we will have the fast and furious mass exodus that my parents had, for example.  Even if the all the big kids move out within a couple of years of one another, I'll still have the littles around for a bit longer to get us used to the idea.  God's Word calls children a gift.  So, while we may never get that alone time while we are yet "spring chickens," we are surrounded by tangible gifts and olive plants round about our table.

HALF A YEAR

We've been blessed to have this guy for 6 months(yesterday)!

6 MONTHS!!

Where has that time gone?

He is such a happy little one..two weeks ago I would have said a great sleeper..AHEM!

I'm sure this is just a phase..growth spurt or whatever, but not such a good sleeper these past two weeks.  (We love you anyway!)  When he takes a bath nowadays, you can count on the bathroom being soaked...no joke!  He is serious about splashing.  We don't have a huge bathroom, but from toilet to the door gets wet! And he loves it! The infant carrier is getting increasingly heavy, but I'm not quite ready to give up its convenience.  He is rolling every which way and is pretty steady when sitting, so that is just a matter of time.  Everything--toys, clothes, feet, hands etc. still goes in the mouth! But no sign of teeth yet..by six months, all the other kids had teeth already!  I'm not worried.  We started using the exersaucer for strengthening those chubby legs!

Happy six months!