March 29th

This is baby chick and her cheesy smile.

These are the worms we dug out of the garden.

This is baby ckick when she saw the worms

"Ewww, worms are dirty"!!!!!!
"It will bite me."
And these are baby chick's very dirty toes.
And her very dirty body!

March 28th

The consignment sale today was a huge success! I sold 3/4 of my items and made almost 500.00. That's exactly what I needed to purchase the boys dressers and mirror for the dining room. I am so excited and can't wait for the check to come in the mail so I can go shopping. The boys are also looking forward to having more space in their room to play and better storage.

This is what I dropped off to sell:

This is what I came back with:

I know why we have fruit trees

I have been contemplating why on earth Hubby would want to plant trees when we don't know whether we are coming or going. There are many reasons why it seems strange

1. It seems like such a waste of money if we leave...
2. Or a good investment if we stay.
3.They take so much work, constantly.
4. I get free apples in a few years to store up for winter.
5. It teaches patience to the children
6. We just might have to start all over again somewhere else...

and then it hit me, it's not really about the trees at all, its about trusting God to do what we are called to do WHEREVER that may be, and for now that is right here.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there be no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce not food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

All 4 trees were planted safely in the ground and now we wait.

March 27th

Spring is here!

March 26th

Today was our busy day. School in the morning and then bowling in the afternoon. I also had to work my volunteer shift for the consignment sale this evening. I was able to get there early and shop some also. Boy did I get some bargains! I am so excited about them, I spent about 100.00 on the following items. These are not the best pictures, but I had to take them tonight so I could hide the Christmas presents.

For Chick F

For Chick G




For Me

For Christmas

The Leapster had never been opened and sold for 50.oo with the two games, the books were 6.00!!!! The cookbook was 5.00 and the puzzle was 1.50 the rest was the clothes, the only "expensive " item was the Gap dress for Gwen at 15.00, but it still has the tags on it and I am a just love little girls in white dresses! I am so glad I decided to go early!

March 25th

I love stay home days! Especially dreary cold ones that make you just want to snuggle up under the covers and read a book. Apparently two of the chicks think this is a good idea too.

March 24th

Anyone for a nap? This cat thinks she's human.
I have never known a cat to tuck herself into bed!

One smart girl - March 23

My Gwen is getting so big! I can see her changing so much as she nears her third birthday in two months. We were working on school work and I gave her the shape sorter and had her sort her colors. She did that in a matter of seconds so I told her to sort by shape. This is what she did in about 2 minutes. So much for keeping her occupied. Not only by shape but in color order too. She never ceases to amaze me with what she knows. I am convinced she will be reading by the time she is 4!

The weekend

We were quite busy this weekend with fun spring time activities. It wasn't that warm but you can tell it's coming. It makes me wish I had flowers in my yard, they would be just starting to bloom and oh how I miss my daffodils. Soon I will have onions sprouting in my front beds instead. It was the only place where the soil is completely ready.

We took a drive to Lancaster on Saturday to purchase some seeds for the garden and some fruit trees. It is always such a pretty place for a drive and all of the farmers are out working in the fields. We saw lots of Amish buggies which the children love and ate lunch at Subway. David and the boys then went to pick up a load of manure for the garden with our neighbor and we had dinner with them later. I managed to forget my camera most of the day so only have a few shots of seeds and plants. No tree pictures, no new baby pictures, no Amish farm pictures, no manure pictures, well I guess that's not so bad but it's still in the truck so I could take one...

On Sunday we planted some of the onion sets and of course went to church and had small group. Sundays are really busy for us and I am glad for the decision David made to take a break from small group on Sundays. It will be nice to be able to get school lessons ready and not spend all afternoon cooking. Once we know more about the job situation we will join another group or plug into a new church somewhere else. In the meantime I am thankful for the rest. But I will miss you guys!

I can hear you asking all ready.

Why did you buy fruit trees if you might be moving?

I truthfully can't answer that question.

You'll have to ask David.

My respose is "I HAVE NO IDEA"!

21 Questions

This questionnaire is going around Facebook and I thought it would be fun to do, so I am putting it here. I might just have to do this every year and see how the answers change. Gwen is to young to answer some of them so I put question marks in those spots. I also made sure to ask them each separately so they would come up with their own answers.

M-7 1/2 O-6 F-4 1/2 G-3 in May

1. What is something mom always says to you?
M: do your school work
O: no
F: good night
G: eat your dinner

2. What makes mom happy?
M: being good
O: me
F: giving kisses
G: letters

3. What makes mom sad?
M: When I break one of your pots
O: When I don't obey
F: pulling kitty's tail
G: crying

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
M: Tell stories
O: Tell funny stories
F: telling silly stories
G: tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
M: sleeping in your bed
O: baby doll
F: baby doll
G: you had a bottle

6. How old is your mom?
M: infinity
O: I don't know
F: I don't know
G: one

7. How tall is your mom?
M: 10 1./2 inches
O: 10 feet
F: I don't know
G: big

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
M: play Monopoly together with the family
O: scrapbook everyday
F: scrapbook
G: stay home

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
M: cry all day cause you miss me
O: scrapbook
F: scrapbook
G: go scrapbooking

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
M: being a cowboy
O: juggling
F: think, think um I don't know
G: hmmmm

11. What is your mom really good at?
M: stepping on Pumpkin's tail
O: scrapbooking
F: scrapbooking
G: taking pictures

12. What is your mom not very good at?
M: remembering all the stars
O: basketball
F: football
G: ?

13. What does your mom do for her job?
M: clean the house
O: work
F: scrapbook
G: scrapbook

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
M: lasagna
O: french fries
F: dead meat
G: dinner

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
M: homemade french fries
O: I don't know
F: hugs
G: ?

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
(you can tell we don't watch cartoons)
M: dancing girl
O: scrapbooker
F: I don't know
G: in there (points to the screen)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
M: coloring
O: fun things
F: play ponies
G: play ponies

18. How are you and your mom the same?
M: NOT
O: brown eyes
F: same eyes
G: family

19. How are you and your mom different?
M: I have different eyes
O: you're a girl
F: I have blue eyes
G: hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
M: you kiss me a million times
O: kisses
F: kisses
G: Just does

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
M: Applebee's "these question's make me think to hard"
O: scrapbooking
F: Applebee's
G: the store

March 20th

Happy first day of spring! I was thinking of posting a lovely picture of the outdoors buy true to Pennsylvania weather it is COLD here today! I would rather be inside where it is warm.

So instead I am showing off the use of orange in my house. This is the children's bathroom. I found the orange towels at Target last year and the shower curtain is Pottery Barn. I don't think the shower curtain is available any more and I haven't seen the towels in a while. I wanted to get a couple more wash cloths so I have been looking. I love the curved shower rod. It adds the elbow room when taking a shower and adds a bit of movement to the space.

The color is called blaze orange and it is bright!

If I were painting a whole room I would choose something warmer with some brown tones, something like this maybe. Too bad I don't have anywhere to use this color it looks so cozy.

March 19th

I was able to get the drawers altered in my scrap room this week. It took forever! I did enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice while I was working. David has not been sleeping well with all the stress of looking for a new job so he is out by 8 or 9 most nights. I have had lots of time to myself to work on projects. Although I am mostly getting ready for the consignment sale next week. I will be glad when that is done! Talk about time consuming, especially when one waits till the last minute!

This morning I took a moment to talk to Fiona about putting kitty in the dryer. About how dangerous it was and about her refusing to tell me why.

Her explanation: Pumpkin was in time out because she wouldn't eat her food.

We then had to have a talk about how kitty's eat. Oh My! I knew I was in for it with a pet!

It has been a good lesson in responsibility though. Fiona is so good about making sure Pumpkin has food and water and that the litter box is clean. I don't even have to ask she just checks every day. If only she could remember that Pumpkin is not a toy!

March 18th

What you may ask is the cat doing in the dryer?

Excellent question.

If I knew the answer I would share it with you.

Fiona isn't telling.

March 17th

I was looking at homeschool curriculum, planning for next year and trying to figure out what grade reading level the boys are on. They have been reading lots of easy readers, but I felt that they could be farther along than that. So I handed Miles a book from his favorite series and he took off! Not only can he read them but he can comprehend what is happening in the story. I just lost my son to the world of books and couldn't be happier!

These are some of our current favorites. Each one is a story based on the life of a missionary, like Amy Carmichael, Martin Luther, and John Wesley. I can't remember how many books are in this series but they should keep us busy for a while. They are written by Dave and Netta Jackson.

March 16th-Looking Down

Looking down St. Patrick's edition.
For those of you who are wondering why there is an edition. Here is what started it all. I was in a photo challenge on Scrapbook.com and one of our mini challenges was titled "Looking down". It was in October of 2007 and someone commented that it would be fun to do this every month to see the changes in the children. So that is what I have been doing ever since. Gwen was 18 months when I started and is now almost three. They have grown and changed so much it has been fun to see. I hope to do an album with these shots some day.

And just because I can't resist here is the one from October. Such babes.

March 15th

Mom, this one is for you. Here are the girls in the dresses you made. I tried to get one of them full length but it was after church and before nap. I'll have to work on that before it gets to warm to wear them. It seems Fiona's knack for winking has been passed on and now the both are in the habit. It makes for some silly pictures.

Gwen would not open her eyes. She kept saying "to tired Mommy" and then never fell asleep during nap. Silly girl.

March 14th

Ahhh Saturdays! It was warm enough today to be outside most of the day. We took advantage of the weather to get some work done in the garage. David moved the compost bin to the back of the house where it is easy to get to with the kitchen scraps. I finished up organizing the closet in our bedroom and got rid of another box of stuff. I just love clean spaces. I wish it was warm enough to open the windows, my house has that stale leftover winter smell. Can't wait to get rid of that and have the warm air blowing in. Spring is coming I can feel it!

We had homemade pizza for dinner and I made David his own special personal pizza with all his favorites. The rest of us had to share. It was yummy and a great way to finish off a day spent together working and playing. David even managed to get some fishing in.