No Matter what I Want

Right now I have a mountain of blessings that sit so tall in front of me that it would be wrong not to record them in order to give Praise and Honor where it's due.
Psalm 92: 1-2
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
² To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night

 Even if I'm really not really into making special mention of my own special dates.  (not that I don't have daily mountains like this... health, safety, freedom etc.  without being cliche or flippant the daily mountains really shouldn't be forgotten or laid aside, but...)

• I think it's safe to say that at the top of the list are two precious nieces safely born within days of each other.  With full hearts we praise God for the precious blessings these little girls are to their families.  (no detailed info or pictures because I didn't get permission to share from either set of parents but take my word for it, they are both BEAUTIFUL!!!) and they both live VERY far away, 1/2 a continent away or as Auntie Shelly put it 7393095209347 miles away (that's of course how far away it FEELS seeing as science will argue if I try to claim it as a fact!)
•  Lynelle Joanne who was born this morning and will share a birthday with me for the rest of our days.
• Mallory Leanne who was born on Sunday and is probably almost sitting by now seeing as they grow up really fast when they live too far away to snuggle, especially seeing as she'll share a name with me for the rest of our days.

• A gift from my secret friend- wudjabelieve it!!!! - a gift certificate for a family photo session with Jete from Urban Fig Photography.  It's an INCREDIBLE gift but after honestly admitting you to in this post (and I don't think I was exaggerating) about the disaster family photos is in our household I will admit I'm parts excited, nervous and scared.  Not that I want to discredit the love that the gift shows... it truly is an amazing gift and I'm still hugely thankful, dear secret friend, even if I'm scared!
• A Play Place lunch with some nieces, nephews and sisters, complete with some almost cupcakes and lots of laughter.  Good thing baking isn't a requirement for nurses, Aunty Shelly!  :)
• Tons of phone calls, messages, facebook messages, calls I missed catching from bright and early this morning until later tonight...
• Visits, and a late night unexpected visit with a big hug
• Gifts, unexpected gifts

A day overflowing with the sense of being loved, being blessed.  Thanks to you all!  I sense God's lovingkindness and His faithfulness to me also in the way He has given me such kind, loving family and friends.

ps.

I just looked at the post and decided if THAT is the abbreviated version it's a good thing I didn't get opportunity to go all out!

Ode to Hard Work

 I had this post all sorted out in my head but after loading the pictures 4 times (after spending 1 hour trying to find them all) I`ve given up on spending another hour writing all kinds of wonderful things.  Here`s the abbreviated version!

Once upon a time we moved to a house that had a 2 bay shop + lean to that took up half of our back yard and the kids whined that they liked our old house better because it had a way better yard... never mind that by the time we moved we had one of the twins permenately sleeping in a pack and play in the kitchen because we had more than out grown the house. 

Anyway, we had this lean to and then we had a massive wind storm that took out some of the neighbors trees that, among other things, poked holes in our lean to when it came to rest on our side of the fence.

So about 1 year ago on a Saturday morning Steve set to work with the kids and ripped all the shingles off...


And then set to dismantling the shed.

So we lived with our back yard looking like this for about a year.  Yup, there was clutter, there was a useless concrete slab, there was a mess!

 

Then one fine Saturday afternoon Steve got home from the berry farm earlier than expected and stated that he was about to start breaking up concrete.  What should he do, it cost $50 to rent a jack hammer for 4 hours but he only had 2 hours until the rental time was up.  I grinned at him and told him I figured that at least for this Saturday he had 2 hours to see how it went by hand.  He accepted the challenge and went at it.  Anyone who has ever seen Steve work can just imagine how this was going!

Well, it sure wasn`t easy but he wasn`t about to go easy and start renting equipment now so the next time he had a couple of hours he went back at it with the help of a willing son with a croquet stick. :)

At about this point it started getting a bit dangerous.  He broke up cement for a couple of hours and then proceeded to load this trailer on the hottest day of the summer, all the while working Steve style - VERY hard!  His mental process.. I have a trailer lent to me for the next two days and I know where to bring the cement = get it done!

 But how exciting.  After the kids and I spent many an hour picking up rocks, sorting them to different piles and raking the sand we moved the trampoline onto the back of the lot and gained a bit more room.

Yes, there`s still a lot of work to do.  The hope is to one day plant some grass but for $0!  for now it feels like a HUGE improvement.  All because the man of the house here is not afraid of a LOT of hard work! 

 

With Apologies

 I just wanted to clarify Cara's surgery was for removing her tonsils and adenoids.  Sorry for missing that on the first post...it wasn't my intention to be secretive or to leave you wondering.
As with my husband, it would be easier if you could all just read my mind, or not? :)

Cara's Big Day

Thankful to God for a sucessful operation day for Cara.  She was so excited to go and delighted in a little duck that a kind lady from church brought last night for her.  We got there early so we took a few pictures and still ended up first in line for the pre op processing.

 She was just so cute with her braids, big grin and long "hosible" gown.

 One of the best parts of the day was that Aunty Shelly was going to be there with us.

 I got the privilege of holding her and letting her hold me until she was asleep.  What a weird feeling.  It did something to my heart seeing her laying so limp before I was ushered out, knowing I truly had to leave her in God's hands.  Somehow it seems more real on the operation table than just putting on shoes so she can play in the back yard.  What a precious comfort to know His way is higher than mine, than ours.

Trying to wake up again but oh so sleepy! 

 After some morphine she was pretty out of it and Aunty Shelly and I got some laughs watching her. 

 We knew she was on the mend when she grabbed the fries and finished at least half if not more of them.  Probably has something to do with the fact that it was lunch time and she hadn't eaten since supper the night before!

She's home now, sleeping for the next few hours and hopefully on her way to feeling much, much better.

And now three!

And just when mom thinks her little boy is scared and unsure, he hops out of bed, gets a bit of reassurance, and marches onto that bus as cheerfully as ever!   (Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matt 6:34  And there Cam and I were with a quick ER visit last night yet, one more thing to squeeze in before the big day!)

 

Well, I know some people out there who love our children almost as dearly as we do so this picture overload is for them (hi Opa & Nana!).  I love you all!

 

 

 

I might not have cried as they left but these pictures of one grown up girl, one missing teeth boy, one smiley boy and two can hardly wait twins sure make my heart feel overflowingly full!

Lots of updating to do...

but in the meanwhile, 5 went outside this morning but only 2 onto the bus.  Tomorrow that turns to three...

How can your heart not ache for these kindergarten kids that are a bit more shy/scared than some of the others...kids like my Cam who are looking forward to going but yet unsure about the whole business too.  He watches everything with quiet careful eyes and I want to scoop him up and snuggle him just a few more days!

Tomorrow he will leave with the quiet reminder that God is always near, even if mom seems far away. 

I'm hoping we get outside early enough to capture some special first day of school pictures to share.