An Excuse and a Brag

Excuses first.....every time I go to blog something my computer won't let me see the pictures from my camera card so I would have no idea what pictures I want to add. I personally don't like to blog without pictures. They show so much more than words. So until I can figure out what the problem is my blogging will be limited.

Now to brag a bit on my man...since I don't have pictures anyway....He had to work on Valentines Day. I went to our church Valentines Banquet alone. Now before you feel sorry for me,  my reasoning was that I could have a nice meal, without anyone sitting on my lap or grabbing my food and fellowship with people from my church family and still get a Valentines dinner out with my hubby in a day or two. It was a nice night but I was definitely missing my hubby. The next day I stayed home from church with B#11 who has a cold(again). Hubby calls on his way home and tells me I have 10 minutes to get ready, he is taking me out for lunch. That sounds nice and I am excited to go out to lunch but he has more of a surprise waiting in his truck...all of my favorite things...strawberries, chocolate, Dark chocolate Milano cookies and Biscoff cookies. We have a ways to go for lunch so he brought along treats for me till lunch. Lunch was great. Who wouldn't love Salmon?? And I so appreciated that he had planned all of this in advance.

Ain't love grand?

Happy Resurrection Day!

I pray that you all had a good Easter day or as we call it Resurrection Day. We had a good one. The weather was great and we had friends over to feast with us. Without wanting to write a sermon here, I wanted to share a couple of verses that stood out to me from our sermon.

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

But let's not forget John 3:17 which says " For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

And 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, " For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

These verses should cause us all to have the joy of the Lord. If you know the Lord as your personal savior this world is not you home. You are a stranger passing through. Your home is in heaven where God will wipe away every tear. This world with its cares and concerns will pass away. Praise the Lord for His mercies! Praise the Lord that His mercies are new every day!

I also wanted to share with you a couple of pictures that B#6 took of our "Easter" surprises.

 

 

Meet Marshmallow and Leo. They will be our fuzzy lawnmowers. Leo is still being bottle fed so B#6 is loving getting to feed him twice a day.

 

 

We made these yummy pretzel crosses this week. One of my favorite things is chocolate covered pretzels so I really enjoyed eating these.

Our Good Friday tradition is to make Resurrection Rolls with crescent rolls and marshmallows dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar. The marshmallow melts inside the crescent roll and makes an empty tomb, like the empty tomb of Jesus on Resurrection Day. These are yummy to eat too. Hey, why bother to make something if it isn't yummy to eat, right?

 

Yesterday we frosted some cross shaped sugar cookies.

Hope you had a good day and that as the new week starts you will think about what Jesus did for you when He died on the cross. Without Jesus there is no true meaning in life....He is the giver of life.

Easter

A few things we have been doing for Easter...

                                                     Making our Resurrection Garden

                                                         
                                                        It is starting to sprout

                                         We made these yummy empty tomb snacks.

                                                    Jesus paid our debt in full.

For Easter week, starting tomorrow, which is Palm Sunday we will be reading through the Easter story in the Bible. Instead of doing an Easter basket I planned out some things we will do each day after we read.
                     Sunday we will read about Palm Sunday. Palms make me think of coconuts so I bought Almond Joy and Mounds candies for the kids.
                     Monday we will be reading the Scripture where Jesus talks about the parable of the Fig Tree so I bought Fig Newtons(YUM).
                     Tuesday we will be reading about Judas agreeing to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver so we will have chocolate coins.
                     Wednesday we will be reading about the Last Supper so we will have oyster crackers(mini-saltines) and grape juice.
                     Thursday will be the betrayal in the Garden by Judas, where he kisses Jesus so I will give the kids Hershey Kisses.
                    On Friday we will be reading about the crucifixion and making a crown of thorns out of pretzel sticks and chocolate, also we will make our Resurrection Rolls which is a tradition. If you have never made them you really should try them. They are so yummy. You can find the directions HERE if you are interested.
                    On Saturday we will be reading about the soldiers securing the tomb with a stone. We found some candy rocks in the bulk section at the grocery store. It really looks like little rocks. Who knows how it will taste though.
                    Sunday will be church and a big meal although I don't know what we are having yet. Probably ham, which somehow seems wrong, since Jesus wouldn't eat pork but that just seems like what we usually do.

How about you? What plans do you have for Easter?

Things we are doing for Easter and Keeping Busy

Well I managed once again to let there be a lag in posting. I had planned on staying pretty current on posting but life sometimes just gets busy.  I have been getting things ready for Easter already and working on some projects. I started remaking a skirt that I had in my closet but didn't like into a maternity skirt and bought a yard of flannel to make cloth diaper wipes. I managed to get 30 cloth wipes out of one yard of fabric for $2.50. Not too shabby.

The kids made some of these water color crosses to hang up. They were so easy to make and actually turned out the way the instructions said. We used masking tape to make the crosses, then they used water color paints to paint around the tape. Once it was dry enough we gently, very gently, peeled the tape off to reveal the crosses.

This is one of the projects we are planning to make. Isn't it cute? It is a tomb, which of course will be empty. So far I have most of the supplies ready to start it but need to find some grass seed. Walmart didn't have theirs out just yet. Hopefully Lowes will. You have to let the grass grow for at least 10 days so you have to plan ahead on when to start this one.

Our family typically does the usual Easter type things like coloring eggs on the first day of Spring. I am not against coloring eggs and hiding them. The kids love doing it but I do want them to focus on Jesus at Easter and not bunnies and eggs so we just do it a bit earlier. I suppose I should be gettting busy on that matter but I have also been preoccupied with planning for B#8's birthday which is coming up in a week or so.

Life is just busy...

Our Valentines

 

Our Valentines actually has lasted for almost a week now. Last week we started by making heart shaped sugar cookies to mail to B#1 and his wife. Of course we had to make sure we made enough for us to eat too. Then on Sunday, DH and I celebrated our Valentines Day by going to the symphony, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, and then going to dinner. Nothing fancy for us. We just aren't fancy people. We ate at Fuddruckers, which was so yummy! We also gave each other our Valentines Day gifts. As you can see below, we each gave each other "flowers". DH gave me the beautiful peach roses and I gave him "man flowers", candy which I attached little notes to.

 

Then on Tuesday, we decorated the dining room and had a special breakfast with the children and gave them each a small gift from us. Since Dad had to work today, we didn't do too much to celebrate the day. We had strawberries for breakfast, which is a special treat around here, made THESE yummy(kinda healthy) chocolate chip cookie dough truffles and went to the library and park.

They were a hit as you can tell by these messy, happy faces and the missing truffles from the plate.

Valentine's Day at our house

Decorating sugar cookies with Big Brother who came for a visit especially to decorate cookies with his little brothers.

Cinnamon breakfast biscuits shaped like hearts...

One of B#6's friends made this heart shaped cake and brought it over for us...

Heart shaped cinnamon rolls to go with our heart shaped biscuits and Orange Juice(which is a special treat in our house)....

We spent the day with the kids, just relaxing and enjoying being together. DH and I are starting a new budgeting system so our gifts to each other were heart-felt but very inexpensive. Aren't those the best kind?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all. We pray that each of you has a personal relationship with the ONE who gives us the reason for this season, Jesus Christ. As we left church yesterday we noticed one of the churches in our town had a sign saying they were not having a service on Christmas day and that struck me as so very strange. Now I know that people may choose not to attend church if Christmas falls on a Sunday, maybe visiting family etc. but for a church to choose not to have a service just struck me as strange since the reason we have Christmas is because of CHRIST. Anyway, I do hope you had a great day. We chose to open our gifts today, Monday, not only to avoid a very busy Sunday but also because our oldest and his fiance both had to work yesterday, medical people just don't always have the option to not work on holidays. We had a very nice relaxing day today with the children.

Again, Merry Christmas and we hope you all have a Happy Jesus loves you New Year.

ps Sister Kristy I would love to be invited to read your blog:)

Father's Day

The guys in our family spent Father's Day on a building project. Not sure this is how I would want to spend Mother's Day but apparently dads don't mind grilling their own dinner and doing a building project for their children.

We had been talking for a while about building a play structure for the children but now that we have three little ones ready to play and another boy on the way we knew it was probably time to do more than talk about it. We don't get out and about too often with gas prices what they are and we spend alot of our days in the backyard with the children so this was an investment for us.

This is the finished project and yes, that is a goat in the yard, one of B#2's newest additions who loves to poke herself through the fencing to join the play.

Mother's Day

Dear Hubby brought me home these beautiful peach roses for Mother's Day. Peach roses are my favorite.

B#4 made this triple layer chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting for us to eat after dinner, which the kiddos and Dad made for me. It was a nice relaxing Mother's Day. Hope you all had a good one as well.

The First Day of Spring

Our family tries to keep Easter or Resurrection Sunday focused on Jesus as much as possible but we also enjoy coloring eggs and all of the fun things that tend to go along with Easter. So what we do is to have all of those fun things on the first day of Spring instead of on Resurrection Sunday. Spring just makes you think of eggs and chicks and baby bunnies. God created Spring and He created all of those cute things that come with Spring so it is fun to be able to honor Him with Spring and then again on Resurrection Sunday when we celebrate what Jesus did for us!

We tried a new recipe this year to make these cute little birds nests. We used chow mein noodles and marshmallows. Most of the family liked them, with a few exceptions. The "eggs" in them are just chocolate candies from Winco. We also had Cranberry Orange scones with cream. Yum!

Happy Spring! Hope you have some lovely weather to enjoy God's wonderful creations!

Happy Valentines Day

For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Our girls love to decorate for holidays. It is amazing how you can take items from around your house and make a room look very festive. We always end up raiding B#2's hopechest to find special decorations. For Valentines Day, we try to focus on the Lord's love for us. We do give the children a little candy, usually a Reeses peanutbutter heart along with a Scripture that is chosen especially for them. We also try to help them to understand that it is a special day for mommy and daddy because we are married. We want them to grow up knowing that our relationship is strong and committed and how important it is for parents to spend time together.

Hope ya'll all have a great Valentines Day!

Christmas Economy

In a big family Christmas can become a trying time, a very expensive time. So how do we afford Christmas for 9 children, two adults and our extended family? Simplify, simplify, simplify and make homemade gifts. We had the children draw names for each other and encouraged them to make homemade when possible. We have several new double sided fleece blankets, the little boys each got a John Deere one from their "secret sibling".

B#2's "secret sibling, B#4, made her this vintage apron.

The little boys got these great hooded bath towels from Mamaw and Papaw.

And then we just get simple little gifts that the person receiving them would enjoy. Daddy loves his coke so mom got him these bottled cokes. Over the years we have learned that we do not want our children to grow up getting lots of "stuff" for Christmas that they won't even remember next year. We do get them each something meaningful, usually books and then we do a family gift. All in all we had a good, simple Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. We pray that if you do not know Jesus as your Saviour that this Christmas season you will see Him working in your life and desire to know Him better.

I mentioned in a previous post about Advent and some of the things we do during Advent. We have been reading from the Old Testament each evening after dinner about the prophecies concerning Christ's coming. Well last night I decided to take a little side trip from that to read some Scriptures about some issues we are having in our family. You see, we have developed a bad habit of allowing unloving words and attitudes between us all so I thought I would just pick some Scriptures to read to the children to see what the Bible has to say to us about this but you know what....even in reading these verses to the children they related to Christmas and the reason we even celebrate this season.

We read in Leviticus that we are to love our neighbor(siblings) as ourself. Then in 1 John 4: 7-11 we read "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

The Bible is always relevant. Praise the Lord for that. Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Our Advent Calender

Advent. Adventus. Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus. Behold, the Lord, the Ruler is come....Advent means taking time each day, for three or four weeks before Christmas, to center our thoughts on Truth Incarnate lying in a feeding trough in Bethlehem. Advent is a few moments to stop, catch your breath and renew your strength from the only One who can provide true strength. Arnold Yuletree, author of "Bartholomew's Passage

Typically in our family we read an Advent story each night and choose a Scripture and some small token from a caledar of some sort. This year we made these pretty cones and the children will take turns, one each night to see what we put in them this year. I chose some tiny nativity ornaments that we will hang on a wreath I bought from the Goodwill and some candy with a Scripture to be read by the child(if they can read).

Not Such a Good Idea

Yesterday while trying to make a soup mix with B#7 I had the "bright" idea to put some rice and beans in a tub and let the boys play in it with measuring cups while I worked. Needless to say we had a huge mess on our hands. At the end it looked like a wedding where everyone threw rice and beans. Maybe they aren't quite ready for that yet. We can try again when they are older.

On the topic of cleaning, a friend sent me a link to a "Fall Clean" schedule. I am sure I mentioned that I love fall so I am enjoying getting started on it. Go Here if you would like to download her checklist. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Easter

Yes, I know that Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, was awhile ago but I am a bit slow on the blogging of late so I am just now getting around to trying to catch up. What we have tried to do in the past is to give the children one large "basket" on the first day of spring and also to dye our eggs that day as well. We feel that most of those kinds of things pertain more to Spring than to Resurrection Sunday. But this year we were traveling on the first day of spring and then once we got home it was time to celebrate B#1's birthday so we did end up doing our "spring" things on Easter.

This year DH and I decided to get the children a trampoline which they have asked for for years now. It took alot of convincing for dad to go for it but we felt it would be something the whole family could use for a long time to come. We did a scavenger hunt for them to find certain letters which would lead them to the hall closet where each child had a Reeses Peanut butter egg along with a very personalized clue that would lead each of them to another letter. They had to put those letters together to spell the hiding place of the gift(trampoline) which ended up being across the road where our spring water comes from. I think they were all pleased with the gift.

The two teams trying to figure out their clues.

B#1 got to be one of the first ones on it.

B#5 & B#6 just love it and spend alot of their free time out there.

Here we are making Resurrection rolls the night before Easter. They are really simple to make and very tasty, just make sure you cook them long enough to get the full effect. You take marshmallows and roll them in melted butter(to illustrate the oil that annointed Jesus) and then in cinnamon and sugar(to illustrate the spices that they used to prepare Jesus for burial), then you wrap the marshmallow with a crescent roll being sure to pinch the edges closed as well as possible. The crescent rolls are supposed to be the tomb where they lay Jesus body. You cook them for about 10 minutes or so. Once they are cooked and cooled some you eat them and when you eat them you get a surprise....the marshmallow(Jesus) isn't there any more! He is risen! You can Google resurrection rolls is you are interested in trying these and would like more details than I have provided.

Hope you had a blessed Resurrectin Sunday...and remember it's not about bunnies at all:)