Saturday, February 13, 2010

every ten years or so

we get snow down here in the south. having grown up a southern girl, i forget how beautiful it is...how it momentarily covers up even the ugly parts of our neighborhood, at least until it melts (which isn't usually too long) and turns into muddy slush. we had some fun this time and it was the first time either of the kids had seen snow!

here we are just before it started sticking

we had a little fun before it got dark






it snowed into the night

and in the morning, a winter wonderland!









eating the candy button off the snowman she "helped" our neighbors build

Monday, February 8, 2010

so much goodness


holy experience

there is a list that continues to grow, but i must say if i were to rank small gifts i am thankful for, having 22 hours of alone time with adam would be way up there. my generous parents came to love on the munchkins while adam and i escaped to a nearby town for 1 day and 1 night. it was the first time i have ever been away from the kids (except for when i was on bedrest in the hospital with graham). what a treat to have 3 meals without interruption, to walk and hold hands, to talk and talk and talk, to sleep for 10 (!!!!) hours in a row. such a blessing. our camera died by the end of the morning, but we caught a few shots. though i really missed the kiddos, i found it a little challenging to settle back into the regular routine. i'm so thankful for grace for that too.













of course my parents like to help out with projects when they come. here are the little people trying to help adam and dad out with the drain.


*"your steadfast love is good"
*fresh, new baby teeth
*warm house
*electricity
* down bedding
*sloppy toddler kisses
*warmer afternoons
*spare keys
*kind neighbors
*pot roast
*haircuts
*toddler learning obedience
*the pudgiest hands
*old friends walking with Jesus
*new friend encouragement
* spring-like weather in January
*toes thawed
*8 hrs sleep!
* faithful father
*hardworking husband
*knees that can run
*knees that can kneel
*everything we need "for life and Godliness"
*hearing the word preached mid-week
*husband getting good sleep during the day despite cheerful, noisy children
*family-time weekend
*missionaries/dear friends
*tottery independent steps
*toddler knees
*finding joy in the mundane because of Jesus and His joyful work
*warm air before the storm
*being "made in His image" and my neighbors being so too
*time alone with husband
*generous parents to care lovingly for children
*husband working with his hands

Thursday, February 4, 2010

one project down

and about a gazillion left to go. that's home-ownership for you. we are not complaining, but are so thankful for the house we can call our shelter for now. remember our quandry? we finally decided to paint the living room thunderstorm which ended up being a neutral grayish, greenish color that we are very pleased with. we have A LOT of colors in our house (red, green, yellow, orange, blue) so a neutral works in there.
before:

during:

after:


i went to lowes 4 times in one weekend as we kept running out of primer and paint. my very generous husband sacrificed 12ish hours of his precious time to carefully paint our 12ft walls. BIG PROJECT. we were going to paint the wall around the window sweet annie green, but it seemed too armyish when we got down to it. nicole helped us decide to do it dutch blue instead as we have that elsewhere in our house. i think it turned out more restful than the green would have.

marit cheered us on with comments like:"you paint that wall!" "Be careful!" "don't make a mess!" and you see that blanket on the back of the couch. it is the one thing that ties all our rainbow colors together




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