blessed...

As I sat down to write this post i was planning to go a whole other direction with it.(my day in pictures)

but as I started to upload photos i realized how very blessed I am on this day.

You see,Andy left for Indiana shortly after noon today,to be with deaf friends of his that lost their son to a horrible farming accident. Their son was 10yrs. old,the oldest of their children.

Dawson,our oldest just turned 8yrs. old,so this struck home pretty hard for us. It just reminded me again how precious each day we have together really is,& that each breath we take is a gift that is given to us,not to be taken for granted.

these two little guys share such a special bond,River will be completely lost without his big brother this fall. Weston will be starting kindergarten in the Fall.

finding his belly button:)

so instead of my day in pictures....here are my blessings...

my heart breaks into thousands of tiny pieces when I imagine what my life would be like without one of these precious little ones.

the little bouquet Dawson so proudly brought in from the field for me last night

 Thank you Jesus for every single day that I get to spend with our children,they may not all be happy-go-lucky days,some days feel like a constant struggle.But help me never to take for granted each day that I have with the ones I love.

Ruth

hearts,bows & polka dots

It's been awhile since I've posted but I've been very busy painting,sewing & painting and so on...

I thought while I have a few minutes on this day of rest I'll show you two of the very simple skirts I've made for Aalyvia...

all the skirts I've made for her so far are very basic then I just add details where I want them. This skirt I just measured the length I wanted it to be & then cut a strip of fabric to the approximate fullness that I wanted it to be. I then sewed the ends together,added elastic to the top,bias tape to the hem.For some reason the pieces I make often turn out better in the end if I don't follow a pattern.

I bought the polka dot fabric at JoAnn's,off the bargain racks for a 1.25yrd. & it only took a 1/2yrd.,the trim I got @ Walmart in the discount bin for a 1.00per spool. I already had the bias tape.

I love that she always props her little hands on her hips when she poses:)

this fabric was leftover from a skirt I made for myself,same process as the above skirt only I made this one a lot less full. The little hearts detail was inspiration from a baby Boden catalog. I see now her skirt is on slightly crooked,but cute none the less:)

more sewing projects coming soon...

Ruth

Lucy

    Meet Lucy,the newest addition to our family. We are already smitten.

We promised the children we would get them a small puppy this spring/summer to play with outdoors. Lucy is half Malti-Poo & half Rat Terrier so she will stay tiny,perfect for the children!

Aaly has already claimed her for her own,she said "since I don't have a sister she should be mine",who can argue with that?...we did tell her though that Lucy is for us all,not just her:)

I love everything about this photo! Aaly is looking so concerned. She was scared Lucy would fall out of the basket. Needless to say she is a very loved little puppy! Shes just so stinkin cute!

O Happy Day...

 Yesterday my day started with a BOOM! quite literally....a big crack of thunder woke me followed by a downpour of rain. Before I could even get out of bed I had two children standing in the doorway of our bedroom with eyes like saucers,wondering what had made that loud noise. While getting the children breakfast it occurred to me that if it's  raining Andy would likely be home early from work,YAY! that meant I could go get my groceries all by myself while he watched the little boys(and possibly get some thrift store shopping in too.)double YAY! He got home about noon and I was off!

 These little lovelies were just one of my happy purchases for the day and I knew exactly where I was going to put them.

They also inspired me to redo a little corner of our living room...

I brought this chandelier up from the basement,purchased at a G.S. a couple years ago for 1.00! Thought it went very well with my little shabby chic corner.

this was another one of my happy purchases. I've been looking for a wooden crate like this for a long time @ a reasonable price & yesterday was finally that day. Picked this one up for 15.00 @ one of my favorite local antique stores in Millersburg,Starlight antiques or something like that.

 not sure where it will end up yet,initially I thought I'd plant flowers in it but now I'm not sure.thats the beauty of it,the possibilities are endless:)

This little guy was chillin on the floor watching me take photos & that smile was just begging to have it's picture taken.

I spent the afternoon stopping @ places I normally don't when I have the boys with me. I was able to take my time, without thinking I have to quick just get what I need so I can get home & put the boys down for naps before they have sleep deprived meltdowns....so a very BIG thank you to my wonderful Husband for giving me the afternoon to catch up on some ME time. A very HAPPY day indeed:)!

Ruth

Valentines day

 I can honestly say this year was one of the best Valentines day we've had together so far. We made it all about the children & family. Judging by the look on their faces I think they would agree:)

Our day started at 7:00 getting children up for school,Valentine cookies & milk then Andy bathed all four children while I laid out their clothes for the day,(pink & red colors of course).

We surprised the children by picking them up from school & taking them out for pizza at our local pizza shop for lunch,they were thrilled! then it was back to school for them.

LOVE is patient,LOVE is kind,it is not rude,it is not easily angered,LOVE always protects,always trusts,always hopes,always perseveres...1Corinthians 13...

This was my only attempt at decorating for valentines,I wanted to decorate the table for dinner with lots of pinks & reds & cards with little love notes for everyone but it just didn't get done. By the time we got home from meeting the children for lunch,I was fighting a terrible sinus headache & just wanted to take a nap with the littles. After resting with them & feeling much better,it was time to start dinner.

she was so impressed that the pizza was a heart,she said"mommy you have to take a picture of me with the pizza". She also said I was the best "cooker" ever!:)....(I know,pizza,twice in one day??,you ask) but it was the only thing I could think of to make that I could shape like a heart & nobody seemed to mind;)

River was cleaning out my dirty laundry basket & found 2 dirty dish-rags that he brought into the kitchen,putting them up to his nose pretending he was cleaning his nose.

& now hes cleaning my windows...

& the floor...

hes a very busy little guy,I love him to pieces!

the little boys having a sword hanger fight

River managed to get Weston trapped in a corner,he thought he was all that & a bag of chips:)

We ended our evening with games & the older children reading stories to us. After bedtime prayers we tucked them into their  beds & Aalyvia whispers in my ear"mommy,this was the best Valentines day ever"

and that my friends was the best Valentines I could have asked for!

Happy Valentines Day to you all,what did you do to celebrate this day of Love?

An all day baking kind of day...

    I don't normally post recipes on my blog but I spent the whole day in the kitchen so I thought I'd share what I've been up to...

We are completely out of baked goodies & it's so close to Valentines day so I thought cutouts would be a good choice.I got the recipe out of our church cookbook(United Dayspring).

1c.brown sugar,1c.white sugar,1c.butter,2eggs,1c.milk,2tsp.baking soda,3tsp.baking powder,1tsp.vanilla,1/2tsp.salt,6c.flour.combine butter & sugars then add the rest of the ingredients.roll out the dough on a floured surface & cut into desired shapes.bake @ 350' till just set.the best part of this recipe is there is no chilling time.

I was sure i saw a heart cookie cutter in my drawer last week but today when i went to get it,it was missing. My guess is,a couple little play-dough-playing kiddos snatched it & forgot to bring it back so I improvised...flower shaped cookies with hearts piped onto them.

they were a hit! The children smelled them as soon as they got in the house after school.

I decided if I'm baking anyway I'm going to make a pan of  Pumpkin cinnamon rolls for our neighbors. While Andy was gone for 9days in Haiti the neighbor boy came over every day to feed our chickens for me so I didn't have to bundle the children up every day & take them out with me to feed them.A HUGE help considering how chaotic my week was,& they didn't let me pay them so this was something I could do for them in exchange.

this is the only recipe I ever use for cinnamon rolls,they truly are the best!

Melt 2/3c.milk & 4TBLS. butter in a saucepan till scalding.while that is getting hot combine,1c.pumpkin,4TBLS.white sugar,1tsp.salt,2eggs,2pkgs.yeast.slowly add the milk mixture while whisking.then add 4c.flour,knead well,let rise till doubled,roll out onto a floured surface,brush with 4TBLS.melted butter & sprinkle with 1/2c. brown sugar & 2tsp.cinnamon.roll up,jelly roll style & cut into 1in.sections.place in a baking pan & let rise again till doubled, bake @ 350' for 20min.frost with your favorite icing. 

Then for dinner we had pizza rolls,my own invention:)

use your favorite pizza dough recipe,roll it out onto a floured surface,top with your favorite toppings then roll,jelly roll style & cut into 1 inch sections & place on a baking sheet.bake @ 375' till done.

when done brush the tops with 4TBLS.melted butter & 1TBLS.garlic salt,they are delicious!

this is how my kitchen counters look like when I'm in my baking zone! I ran the dishwasher twice today & still had to hand wash some dishes myself.

let me know if you enjoyed the recipes:)!....love reading your comments!

Happy Monday...

    Monday mornings don't get much better than the one I've had today...I woke up to Andy still snuggled sprawled out beside me & my baby boo peeking over the side of his crib,smiling around his pacifier,wondering if mommy & daddy were ever going to get out of bed & feed him.

    Got the two older kids off to school without a hitch then started my laundry which turned out to be only 5 loads instead of my usual 8! yay!

    The sun was just begging me to hang out my towels & bedding,love seeing the linens blowing in the breeze.

I think every toy that the children own has made it's way into the living room,but I haven't heard any crying or fighting yet today so they can just wallow in the toys to their hearts content.

    The tongue always comes out when hes thinking or concentrating really hard:)

    where did it go mom? my ball was here a minute ago....

    I have steak in the crock pot with a mushroom sauce,getting ready to be served with rice & a salad for dinner. So no hurried,what do I make for dinner dilemma tonight....my washing machine is telling me it's done cleaning my laundry & is ready for another load.

good-bye for now & Happy Monday to you all!