That's my girl...

She came home from co-op, had some dinner, and dove into her Lit. reading.

That's my girl.

A Thousand Endless Gifts!

81.  watching the Holy Spirit at work in her heart.

82.  giggling in the car on the way to co-op!

83.  inside jokes between my girl and myself.

84.  crazy foreign accents only understood between friends!

(or mothers and daughters)

85.  patience that only the Holy Spirit can impart.

86.  learning to sing my frustrations away, and the one who encouraged me to do so.

87.  the hope of melting snow and ice!

88.  a weekend with precious neighbor baby and the comfort that comes with holding him tight!

89.  the blessing of teachers that look after my yahoos when I am not there to do so...

90.  learning alongside the one you dearly love...

Wordless Wednesday!



God's LOVE...

Today we met and the question was,
"Have you experienced God's love?"

HAVE you REALLY experienced God's love?

DO you experience God's love?

REALLY?

And of course, we chatted about the day we "met" HIM, that day where the blinders fell off,

and the light streamed through,

and we knew the love of Christ fully, completely.

But in the day to day, HAVE we experienced God's love?

Can we say that we have?

Do we really KNOW HIS love?

And I smiled, because I knew, just when.

Yes, I have.

Yes, I do.

My mind went back to 15 years ago.

Do you see him?

See his face?

See him looking at me?

The one in the corner.

That fresh, handsome face?

When I walked through the doors,

And started down the isle,

and saw that face...

I knew.
I saw His love, in his eyes.

Those eyes followed me all the way down.

They never wavered.

They never wandered.

They stayed right with me all the way down.

And I knew.

Those eyes have been with me ever since.

Through all the good stuff.

Through all the heartache.

All the illness.

All the joy.

All the tears.

They have never wavered.

They have never wandered.

And every day I look into them.

I know I am loved.

By the ONE who made him.

Just for me.

Yes.

I have REALLY experienced God's love.

Endless ways...Endless gifts...

71. his eyes

72.  his permanent smile

73.  Wedding photos that record the memories

74.  Monday afternoons with Patty

75.  Grandmas and Grammies and Nanas

76.  My favorite sweatshirt

77.  Birds chirping even though the winds blow

78.  last minute offers to babysit 

79.  Family Bible Study

80.  voice mails from my favorite buddies

I can see it...

The ground.  It's peeking through.

The warmer weather has melted away most of the Blizzard of 2011.
Spring is almost here, my friends.
Before you know it, we will be seeing these...

smiling back at us...greeting us once again.
One more month!

A Little Love...

Yesterday we received a big envelope in our mailbox.

It was full of little love notes and stuff for the yahoos...

And even a little something for Jeff and I...

Yum

Thank you, Nana.

Blog Hop!

I've thought I would try the February blog hop from Bloggy Moms!

So many lovely blogs to check out and enjoy!

Under the Trellis: February

This is the trellis Jeff built for me for our 5th wedding anniversary.

Yep...It's ten years old.

Cannot believe we have been married that long.

15 years.

Mac took this pic last week.

I wanted to take a pic of it at least once a month.

To keep a record of the changing of the seasons.

To document the life that comes and goes around that trellis.

I forgot to post January's pic.

Here it is...

Pretty quiet.

It was a typical cold blustery January Day.

You cannot tell right now...but as the weather warms up... lot of action takes place around that trellis.

The yahoos tend to hang out right there...for lots of different reasons.

Here's Mac and Mae playing dress up.  They were having a tea party.

I invaded the fun and had them pose for me.

They seem so little, don't they?

The yahoos tend to hang out right there..

They like to chat with the newlyweds...or play fetch with their dog across the gate.

The trellis turns into a makeshift garage for all their "vehicles."

Or it might be home "base" for a game of tag.

It will be fun to document the comings and goings on around:

The Trellis!

The ways He loves me....

61.  forgiveness

62.  A kiss even on a "grumpy" day...

63.  valentine tulips waiting just for me

64.  Hershey chocolate

65.  funny co-workers who make me giggle

66.  surprise cinnamon rolls

67.  movie night with my yahoos

68.  the desire to run

69.  another day to try again

70.  the promise of the Holy Spirit....

Happy Valentines Day to you all.

May you experience HIS love today!

Finding joy...

In the little things.

One day I walked into the kitchen and discovered this...

Then I went looking for the little one who had mananged such a masterpiece of creativity.

I found her like this...

*sigh*

I thought I would join a blog hop!

The Blog...For the Love of Blogs is hosting a Blog Hop

1. take a picture that brings you JOY
2. blog about that Joyful Moment, include our button
3. link your blog post up below
4. visit the other Joyful Bloggers and leave happy comments
5. enJOY!

Just another day...

I awake to my morning cup...

he pulls me up

I sip it down

as he strokes my head.

an hour later the weariness fades

I find him feeding the rest...

he just amazes me.

Day after day.

He grabs his phone

in a rush

and stops right at the door,

remembering, he draws me close...

and yahoos turn away, giggling...

Every day. Day after day.

Some days drag and some days fly

the yahoos and I

piece it together

until...

the sun hangs low in the western sky

and the weariness creeps in

We hear the dear

familier sounds

that greet us every day

day after day

at the end of the day.

and the yahoos cheer

craziness ensues...

He is home.

*tears*

I am so glad

he is home.

Endless Gifts...

they keep coming.  everyday.  amazing.

51.  happy horn honking...

52.  that HE holds onto me...and not the other way around

53.  newlywed neighbors to remind me of the beginning

54.  another week growing with Li

55.  Kiki's "woooo hoooo!"

56.  poppafisherman's warm apple crisp and homemade ice cream....yum

57.  e-mail invites to dine...that pop up at just the "right" time

58.  the hope stored up in heaven...

59.  the coffee... that is "cafe," and the giggles that erupt

60.  the miracle that for some reason God made me the wife of poppa fisherman and the mama of FOUR yahoos...

Scripture Memory

At the beginning of the year, I decided to read through the One Year Bible.  I also felt compelled to work on memorizing scripture.  If you are at all interested in joining in on this adventure, check out

Weekly Passages.

We have been going through Colossians, memorizing a couple verses a week.

Take a peek!

Five a month goals...

So last month I decided to join Jessica in her five a month plan.  Here are the goals that I chose for January, and how well I did.

1. Read my One Year Bible Everyday.
I managed to keep this goal!  Meeting with the Lord in HIS word every day has been such an encouragement, and HE helps me along through the day.  It is a discipline I have always tried to keep up but having this list and the accountability really helps me.  I also decided to keep a blog about my readings.  Keeping up the blog has also helped keep up the discipline, and it forces me to think through what I am reading.  The more accountability in my life, the better!
2. Memorize Colossians verses...two a week.
This goal was harder for me to maintain.  So far I have managed to memorize four verses.  So I have done a verse a week.  Not too bad, for someone who is terrible at memorizing and tries to avoid it at all costs.  More about this in my goals for February.
3. Work with LiLi on learning/writing her alphabet.
LiLi has been working on her writing and her alphabet.  I would like to work on this more consistently, though.  I think we need to make the goal more precise..like once a day...or three days a week...something like that. More coming for February.
4. Clean/organize my desk.
Nope. Did not happen.  Pathetic!
5. Write a note of encouragement every week.
This I did manage to do! 

So here is my goals for the month of February

1.  Read my One Year Bible Everyday. Same plan.

2.  Memorize Colossians, two verses a week.
I really want to manage two verses a week.  I am following a plan and would like to keep to it.  I also found a website called Scripture Typer.  It is a great tool and I have been using it for a week.  I think if I consistently keep at it, I should be able to keep up a two a week pace.
3.  LiLi on her learning her alphabet/handwriting.
Li has really been doing well with this, but trying to work at this everyday is a bit much for her.  So we will make it a goal of three days a week, probably Mon. Wed. and Fri.
4.  Clean and organize my desk.
I will conquer the desk.  I will!
5.  Write a note of encouragement every week.
One thing I have been thinking about lately is how much we do not say.  And for some reason we tend to say the things that are negative and we keep the positive stuff to ourselves. 

If you are interested in making goals for yourself this month, or are just looking for an interesting, inspiring blog to read, check out Jessica's blog.  Jessica and her hubby are currently raising their five children overseas.

Blizzard 2011

I have fond memories of the Blizzard of '79.

Now the yahoos will always remember the Blizzard of 2011.

The mound to the left of them...that is right up against the back window of our house.

3 ft. of snow blocked our back door.

The girls and the dog pranced and dug and pranced some more.

Pretty cool day!