So Precious

N5: "Granddad, let's go outside and talk about God."

N5 said that this morning to my dad as we were cooking breakfast. He has been enjoying his time with Granddad in the morning as the rest of us are getting started with school. I was unaware they were having these talks, so it was a pleasant surprise to me and just so precious.

A8's Special Day

As we were driving away from the grocery store, A8 had his Nestle Chocolate Milk in hand, smiling contently, looking out the window. He said, "This is a special day." I said, "Why?" thinking he was so excited to get the choc milk treat. He replied, "We got to meet in Pastor Paul's office about being babatized (baptized)today." He is so excited about his baptism that is coming up this Mother's Day weekend. He and M10 will be getting baptized on Mother's Day. What a blessing for me! I am so excited to see my children wanting to follow Jesus!

A7 Leads Little Brother to Christ

I came home a couple days ago to find out while I was gone, my dad overheard and witnessed this story. He said it was so precious to see and hear. Yeah it was! I wish I could've seen it.

A7: "Repeat after me."

N4 puts his hands together like big brother, A7.

A7: "God"
N4: "God"

A7: "Come into my heart."
N4: "Come into my heart."

A7: "and protect me."
N4: "and protect me."

A7: "in Jesus name"
N4: "in Jesus name"

A7: "Amen"
N4: "Amen"

I have no idea what inspired that, but forever precious!

Snow Cream

We enjoyed making snow cream for the first time ever. Below you can see our bowl of snow and a sweet neighbor friend joining the boys. This is a new favorite with the family; I am sure they will be wanting to do it each time it snows. Surprisingly delicious!

We Made an Igloo!

We never dreamed we would build an igloo. I guess I just assumed it was out of my league, but a friend posted on facebook that he built one with his kids. I looked up how to make one and we did it!!! My family thought I meant to make it on a much smaller scale, and were pleasantly surprised to be building something much bigger.

Above and below are my boys in the igloo with me in that tunnel shooting up at them.

Below is on our first day with a couple neighbors joining in. Here a friend is joining D13 and M9.
The next day we set out to finish, but didn't get the top on as planned.
We are finished!!!! Posing for a final picture!

Making Fun of the Teacher

Sometimes my boys just make me laugh when trying to teach school. Things they would never get away with in a large classroom setting like making fun on the teacher and popping each other with a pencil eraser. Yes, I guess you could say I don't have full control of these teenagers all the time, but a lil fun does not hurt. There are definately times they take it too far and cause trouble, but overall, I am thankful for the fun. I am sure this is a "had to be there" story, but I wanted to log it for fun memories.

Two days ago, I had to take someone to the doctor, so my 2 Pre-ALgebra students got a 4 minute lesson from me on scientific notation. I didn't have time to go through everything, so I told them to read over the rest of the lesson and try to complete the assignment without me. I never got to the part of the negative exponents so I forgot how to handle those. Somehow they got through the lesson, or so it seemed.

The next day, after grading the papers, I could tell they needed more instruction. I went to the board without reading over the whole lesson myself to show them how to do the ones they missed. I was stumped when I put the 1st problem on the board.
I turned to my boys whom I had told to finish reading the lesson the day before and asked, "Does anyone know how to do this?" I don't think I will ever live that one down. They poked fun of their teacher coming to class asking the kids if they knew how to do it. N14 said, "Does anyone know how to do this? Anyone? Anyone? Hmm... OK, let's just look over the other day's work?"

For anyone concerned, I was able to figure it out within a minute of refreshing my mem on how to do it and we did complete the lesson, but it was just one of those fun moments. Math was my subject, so I have been able to go to the board to teach without refreshing my memory most of the year. I guess it may be time to start preparing before class. :-)

"Fall Day"

As we entered, N4 saw a scarecrow decorating the storefront and asked, "Is that because of 'Fall Day'?"

America - Do Not Forget!

Wow! To live in the day our forefathers were signing the constitution! The victory of having a nation under God! Oh the joy they must have had!!!! Unfortunately we live in the day people are trying to make sure our nation is not in relation to God. Sometimes that saddens me so, but I am so glad to know that there are so many who still want this nation under God. I fear showing Him no reverance and Him taking His arm of protection away as we see over and over in stories from the Bible. Here is something I recently read in Dueteronomy:

Dueteronomy 6:10-13
10. So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build,
11.houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant--when you have eaten and are full--
12.then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13.You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.

I think this relates to us in that our generation did not have to do the work to make this nation what it is. I guess you could say we have a tendency to forget what the people seeking God and God did to help our nation become a nation. If you read on in the rest of that chapter above you see it is not good for us to forget what He has done for Him and that we need to seek Him and love Him with all our hearts, soul and might!

First Flight

N14 was able to take his 1st flight with our friends, the Bakers. This is them before take off along with our younger boys.


We watched as the plane took off and tearfully prayed for protection...


Then we turned our prayer to a more cheerful thought that he would have an awesome time. This next picture is a picture our friends took that were with him on the plane. He got special treatment of introducing him to the whole plane and was able to go into the cockpit and sit in the pilots chair. God is so good!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

Family Camp 09

Wow! Our first experience at family camp was awesome. Some friends of ours, the Jernigans have been so sweet to invite us many times over to join them in Michigan, and we finally got to do it. What a blessing!
We were blessed to have several families come that were from where we used to live be with us for the week. Our kids have grown up together, so they were all in heaven running around camp together with freedoms they usually don’t get to experience. The kids rented bikes and rode to a fro enjoying a 24 hour snack/game room among many other activities available.
The adults enjoyed hearing Tom Harmon twice a day most days. Wow! Scott and I were truly challenged. Here are some of the main points I got: 1. let God’s Word abide in me RICHLY (memorizing scripture and reading) 2. Listen intently to and don’t quench the spirit. 3. Walk in the Spirit and pray without ceasing. Well these points are things I thought I knew, but those messages took it to a whole new level. And since I have been back, I have paid full attention to them and wow! The difference! When we walk in the spirit and abide in His word, there is no room for sin. It actually comes naturally to not sin when God has the reigns. Wish I were in the Spirit all the time!
Here are some other fun things we enjoyed while there: Date night, Scott and I went to Lake Michigan with the Bakers. We utilized our scheduled time on the boat and had fun on the lake tubing. M9 and I joined the Baker team for kind of like a Survivor game and made it all the way to the end. Those are great memories! The boys stayed out til midnight one night playing “Smuggler”. Nicholas and Alex had a great time with our family assistant, Tim, who took them pretty much wherever they wanted to go, mainly to the playground. I enjoyed having an assistant assigned to the family for a whole week to help however needed. We played human foosball in a life size foosball “table.” 3 meals and snacks prepared for us all week. We literally did not even need snacks in our room, because they fed us so well.
Do we want to go again? Absolutely!

Mother's Day

Well this Mother’s Day was definitely the best from my family. Scott took me out to Carrabas and shopping to pick anything I wanted. If that was not enough, the boys did the sweetest thing. I really like surprises. In fact I’ve tried to hint that before, but I have not mentioned it in a couple years. After Sunday school when we went to get the boys, I found out Granddad had taken all the boys except N4 on home before Sunday School. I wondered what they were up to. When I walked in the door, I came into a clean kitchen, lunch ready, the table set and such a sweet spot for me. They had given me the “Celebrate Your Special Day” plate, and decorated all around it with flowers, decorated paperclips, pictures and cards for Mother’s Day. They even cleaned the upstairs and made my bed that I missed from the mad rush to get us all in church on time. Thank you boys, Granddad and Scott for making my day so special. Oh and I topped it off with 15 minutes in the sun, a walk with the family and a great movie, “Flywheel,” which was the movie made by the same people that made “Fireproof.”

FL Spring Break 2009 Recap

Monica and Luis joined us on this trip until Wed. They were already planning a trip to Cocoa the same week in a hotel right next to us, so that worked out great for the boys to get to travel and vacation some together.

First we stopped by Nana and Papa’s for a couple nights. It was Nana’s birthday. We got to see Jon, Elizabeth, Cade and McKayla, Katyn, Stuart, Luke and Josh. Monica and I got to drive down and see the great work Bruce and Mira were putting into the lake place.
Then we headed to Cocoa for a business meeting for Scott and fun for the kids. We enjoyed the beach and pools, especially the pool Luis’s hotel had. I enjoyed doing a photo shoot for Monica and Luis.

Next we left for St. Augustine where we got to spend the day with Grandma and Papa Steve. Mom and I headed for the store while the boys joined Papa Steve and Daddy in the pool. They did a photo shoot of the boys and of our family. We enjoyed watching Bolt.

The next day we got to spend with Aunt Betty. She showed up with lots of cooked food and cupcakes! Yum! Aunt Betty joined us on the beach where she got her workout lifting Nicholas to jump the waves about 100 times and later caught waves with the older boys body boarding ending up a mile down the beach! Well, maybe not that far. J We ended the night with the glow in the dark necklaces on the beach attaching them together making fun light designs in the dark. We had a birthday party for Alex since we were going to be traveling on his actual birthday.

The next day the Bakers stopped by for a visit. N13 and A13 played football most every second we were together even in the ocean. The younger guys, except N3, body surfed for a long time. M8, G9 and I got in some racing in the pool. G9 is the winner! We had so much fun with the glow in the dark necklaces with Aunt Betty, we got some more and took the Bakers to the beach in the dark. We had a whole new set of fun this night. Everyone made anklets, and such and decorated their bodies with the colorful necklaces. G8 was a dancer while the boys were using the lights as armor and swords.

Finally we headed home but took a detour to the mountain cabin for a night. It was a nice way to end the trip.

I Was Asked, "Do You Homeschool Your Kids?"

After the photographer of our church directory had spent some time with us, he asked, "Do you homeschool your kids?" When I said, "Yes," he said, "I can tell. They are so well behaved." He went on to tell how most kids are not as easy to work with, but homeschooled kids make his job so much easier and pleasant.

It was music to my ears. I remember before having kids thinking the same question about several different families and it never failed, they were homeschooled. I was so impressed with those kids, that it helped in my decision to homeschool my own. And to think others might be seeing those same qualities in my kids just made my day!

They would have made their Grandma & Papa Steve proud of their obedience and attention to the photographer! Grandma and Papa Steve should get credit here too. They have been trained since birth to listen and obey that photographer!

93 Million Google Hits for John 3:16 in 24 hours

One cool part about the story below is that most christians already know John 3:16 and would not need to look it up. So who was looking it up?

A day or so before the national championship game God touched his heart with a message…Tim Tebow needed to change the message on his black eye liner that he wears when he is playing. All year he had a reference to Phillipians 4:13 on the eye liner which represented the following: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. He talked to four or five others about switching the message and everyone except his parents told him not to do it because they had been so successful all year with the Phillipians 4:13. His parents, Pam and Bob Tebow, supported the change and Tim knew it was the right thing to do. He played the championship game with John 3:16 on the eye liner which represents the following: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.We all know the outcome of the game, but the phone call that Tim received a couple of days later when he was back in Gainesville was nothing short of unbelievable. Tim answered his cell phone and it was the P.R. guy for the UF Football game. He said, “You set a record.” Tim wondered what kind of record was he talking about. “In the 24 hour period from the start of the championship game, JOHN 3:16 was Googled…93 MILLION times! No other topic had ever been Googled that many times in a 24 hour period of time.”

Follow up story from Urban Meyer, Coach of the 2008 National Champion University Florida football team:

We all hear about the incredible family Tim is a part of. With everything going on in the world, you just know there is no way Pam and Bob Tebow can be as perfect as they are made out to be.

I am here to tell you I witnessed the most amazing conversation which is the truest testimonial to how incredibly good the Tebows truly are.

A few days after the championship game I sat at a table in the back of the Ballyhoo restaurant with Tim, Pam and Bob Tebow. It was just the four of us and I listened in amazement as Tim’s future about moving to the next level of football was decided. Unbelievably, the NFL was never once mentioned. Tim’s dad started the conversation by saying that Brett Farve spoke about his faith and no one ever listened. Here was a future Hall of Fame quarterback and no one heard his message. Tim then said…”I can think of 93 million reasons why I would want to stay in school and play my senior year at the University of Florida .”

That’s how the decision was made.

Which platform would provide Tim with the best opportunity to share the word of God? As you now know, playing his senior year for the University of Florida would be that choice.

And, is there any doubt about Tim’s passionate commitment to FINISH STRONG

Another Funny

I never set out to keep posting funny things my kiddos are saying or doing, but we seem to be on a roll here. N3 did something that we wish we had the video camera for.

N3 was watching me flip through a catalog. He asked me, "Why are you doing this?" while he stuck his finger on his tongue. I realized I must have licked my finger to make the pages turn better. I explained it to him and tried to demonstrate how it works. I first told him to flip the pages to see how it flips without a wet finger. Then I said, "Now lick your finger then try it." He licked his right hand pointer finger and placed it on his chest while he took his dry left hand to flip the pages fully anticipating something to change for the better. It was too cute. N13 and I were so wishing we had videoed that. He never got how that helped, but we got a good laugh.

A Family Favorite Story

The boys and I were remembering a vacation with some friends of ours, the Chapmans, back when the oldest boys were 4 and 5. Back then, we had been talking a lot about if something was an accident or if it was on purpose. At that age they would get hurt sword fighting and such and we would have to clarify if the child was intentionally hurting the other or if it was simply play.
Well, we were with the Chapmans at their beach condo when our oldest, who was 5 at the time, got in a verbal argument with their daughter, Julie, over whose sun glasses it was they both wanted. My oldest was not being so sweet. The 4 year old saw the struggle and decided he would be the "good guy" and went up to her and wanted to let her know he was nice unlike his big brother, so he said, "Julie, you are my bestest girlfriend." He meant nothing by saying "girl"friend. He meant friend, but Julie took him wrong and hauled off and slapped him across the face for calling her girlfriend. He stood there in shock. If that was not funny enough, he slowly turned to where the adults were sitting and said, "That was no accident."

Thank you Julie for giving us something to laugh about for years. It is still as funny now as it was back then.

Precious Moments

I was jogging around the track yesterday, when M8 and A6 challenged me to a race. I had already been running a while, but I was ready for a fast run, so I raced them for a little bit. I did not realized they wanted to race the entire track, so I slowed down and started to walk. M8 ran right past me. A6 caught up to me, held my hand and started walking with me. After a minute of that he sweetly said with a smile, "Mom, if we keep holding hands, we will tie." How sweet! We actually were side hugging as we "crossed the finish line" together. A3 wants me to add, "Hooray!"

N3 Tells Us What Happened in the Garden of Eden

When I picked up N3 from his Sunday School class, he showed me his picture he colored. It was a picture of Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve had a piece of fruit in her hand. N3 had mainly just colored the fruit. He pointed to his picture at the fruit and said, "Mom, you know what happened after they ate that?" I asked, "What happened?" N3 responded, "They turned into bad guys." I love little children!

My Little One is Moving Out

My sweet little 3 year old wants to be with his big brothers. He has been sleeping with us since he was born. We did let each of the boys sleep with us some. Not so much the oldest. You know we followed the book with him, but with the more children we had we just kinda started writing our own book. I certainly feel like what works for each family is good. There is not right or wrong on some issues like kids sleeping with parents or not.
Well I have to say, I was wondering how we were gonna break our youngest. I still remember my 3rd asking, "Will A6 (he was A3 then) have to move out when he is 4?" He thought that was how it worked, since he had to move out then. The bed was certainly getting tight with a newborn and a 3 yr. old sleeping with us. Well I kinda had that in mind for our youngest. I thought we might stick with the 4 year old move out idea even though A6 did move on around 2 yrs. N4 does turn 4 very soon, but he is already telling me he is not sleeping with us each night. It is kind of funny how he keeps making sure I have it straight that he is sleeping with big brother, M8. For a couple nights he wanted to sleep with his big brothers but fell asleep before they did. I just put him in my bed when I found him asleep, because his big brothers were making too much noise in their room. Each morning he woke up mad at me that he was in my bed. That is what makes it funny. And in the middle of day 3 after that happening twice waking up in my bed, he said, "Now mom, I am not sleeping with you. I am sleeping with M8 tonight. Do not put me in your bed." This 3 year old, N3, can be quite demanding at times. It is a good thing he is 3 and we are thinking it is cute.

Congressional Tours with Dad

Highlights: Mount Vernon (Washington's home), riding the subway for the first time, The Mall, Lincoln's Memorial, meeting senators and congressmen, sat in on some congressional meetings, special tours, walked by the White House, and more.
This is the tree George Washington planted.
It is hard to believe they are just a year and a half apart! 6th to 7th grade seems to be a doozy for growth!

Mile Stones for A6

A6 was so happy to finish this Reading Book this past week. We started him on it before K, but let it go while he went to our local school. When we brought him back home for 1st grade, he still was not ready for 1st grade material, so we went back to this book, reviewed lessons he had done before and got back going on it. The book is a little worn, because three bigger bros used it to learn to read too. A6 was also blessed at church recently when he picked one awesome car for the RA car races. He not only won 1st place for the 1st graders, he one 1st place over all the elementary kids. The bigger trophy is for 1st place overall.

A Monument to Remember

If you never read another post, read this one! I think the only reason I did not share this earlier is I was worried I might not do it justice in my writing. I have a particular "parting of the Red Sea" that was just precious to me and I am forever in awe. "Parting of the Red Sea" simply means witnessing a huge miracle like the Israelites did when the Red Sea was parted for them to go through. They were told to build a monument to remember what God had done so they would remember.
I had taught Sunday School to middle schoolers to the best of my ability for over a year in the jr. high dept. As much as I wanted to be there, I never felt adequate and worried they needed someone else. I had to leave to have my 2nd baby and I went ahead and told them I would not be back. After several months of not teaching, I felt like the Lord was telling me to go back. I felt like I laughed like Sarah. I laughed at the fact that now I had 2 babies and never felt adequate before. I had given it my all. I am sure God's Word does not return void, but I just felt like I could not do the job. Because the nudge to go back did not go away, I finally told the administrator my desire, but quickly blew it off to him like it is no big deal. I just did not want to be disobedient, so I let them know. I felt better. I had obeyed, but luckily there was no need. (Well that day anyway) Not long later I got a call that they needed me to teach again. I did not realize at the time it was only 2 Sundays they needed me for, but these were 2 Sundays that forever changed my life.

In the midst of teaching that first year and my time off for having babies I was learning through Beth Moore Bible studies and other means how God works through us. We need to not take the reigns. As I sat down to work on that first SS lesson I was going back to do, I was excited. I was going to make a sheet that looked like Beth's bible studies. It was gonna be awesome. I wanted multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and heart digging questions. As I sat down to do it, I felt like the Lord nudged me, "No, do it my way." You are going to die when you hear my first thoughts to the Lord. Can you believe I actually thought back to him, "But Lord, you do not know how good her Bible studies are."? That was a split second thought and then I thankfully came to my senses. I heard it again, "My way", so I reluctantly obeyed taking my fist and literally slid my wonderful "Beth Moore" idea to the side. My dreams of this wonderful Bible Study seemed to be being crushed. I felt like a kid on the candy aisle having to put the candy back. I then listened and let him lead. I no longer heard anything, but I felt like He got me on the right track, and it all fell into place. That first Sunday morning was the best SS lesson I ever taught. The girls were full of questions and taking notes. I was even amazed at the girls who had the most awesome pastor I ever knew as their dad and were learning from me! And they even stayed after class to ask where certain verses were. I had never had a mom sit in on a jr. high class, but this time a parent was there. She asked at the end of class if she could come back next week! Well this was not my "parting of the Red Sea". That is next, but it certainly was an awesome experience to let God lead and watch lives be changed! This experience is what led to the next week's miracle.

Several times throughout the next week, I had looked over the SS material the church was wanting me to teach and I did not quite get it. I kept putting it down until I had more time to focus. Well it got down to about 10PM Saturday night when I finally got to fully dive into it more. I started begging God to give me permission to teach something I already knew. I read the verses they wanted me to teach, I read the commentary from the material, and I prayed for God to either reveal it to me or allow me to pull out something I already knew about. I just could not get what the verses meant! I felt like I was to honor the churches request to teach the material provided, but was ready for God to tell me I could change the subject. I prayed, paced and read over and over for 2 hours until I got so tired I could hardly stand it. I was convinced how God is supposed to work through us and I know how my ways are useless without Him. I remembered how He pulled a great lesson together the week before, and I did not want to go on my own! In the last 15 minutes before going to bed, I started thinking, "I guess You are going to reveal to me what to teach in the morning." He was silent this whole time.

As much as I hated to go to bed without a Word to teach in the morning, I had to. I turned off all the lights in the house and headed toward the bed in hopes His provision would come in the morning. You could say I felt a huge sence of determination not to do this lesson with my abilities based on what I experienced the week before. I pulled the covers back, got into bed, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I experienced a miracle. My head was flooded with what the lesson from Isaiah 40 meant. The whole chapter! I sat up quickly in shock... came to my senses and started running to the room that had my papers. I turned on all the lights as I went back to the table where my pencil and paper were to write what I was getting. My hand could hardly keep up with my understanding of Isaiah 40. I stood as I quickly wrote it all down and when I got to the last verse in Is. 40, "They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles...", I fell back into my chair in awe! This is when the pondering began. I have been in awe ever since! Yes, this was one of those verses you see over and over and probably have memorized, but I never knew why it was so awesome until that night!

Can you believe I lost these sheets of what came to me about Is. 40? As great as that chapter is, I could never learn more than waiting on God and truly mounting up with wings as eagles! I think He allowed me to loose the sheets. I don't think He wanted me to ponder the notes over and over, but to ponder His provision when WAITING. You can bet I have!

Do you want to know a characteristic about God that I have seen over and over? He waits until you have fully surrendered the battle to take over. This is when He gets the glory! We can clearly see that it was God and not something we did. He waits until every last "neck muscle is resting on the pillow" and fully resting and not trying in our own power. "When the battle is the Lord's, the victory is mine!"
If you are past the Nicole Mullens song on my juke box, "When I call on Jesus," go back listen and SOAR! You can bet I do when I hear that song. Yes arms out and all!

Our Week with Cherished Friends

The boys became best friends with the Baker boys when they were 3 and 2 years old. The Bakers had baby #3 about 4 months before our #3. Of course baby #3's became best buds even though they were a girl and a boy. Our families have had several trips together. After 2 years of being away, it seems as if not time has passed. One of the Bakers would not tell anything they wanted for Christmas. When asked what he would do with $1000 if he had it to try to pry something out he wanted, he said he would visit our family. Well, that was it. A trip up north was planned.

Now to recap some of this week together:

roller skating & ping pong in the basement
G8 played school with N3 and A6. Boy how I remember these days with my aunt (Angie). Although she always got to be the teacher.

Football in the yard

Which reminds me the one day we decided to run by the mall 1st to play with the life sized chess game instead of going straight to the park for football, we decided to kinda hide a camera (pictures blow)and tell them our new plans of going to the mall instead of the park. Reactions in photos below. It was a hoot! Especially after A13 saw the flash, he went to the biggest smile and pointed at me and proclaimed, "You got me!" He was so relieved that it was a joke. Funny thing was, we were serious. (They did not know about the life size chess game.)

OK, we both did the same writing class with DVDs at our seperate co-ops, so we did this together while they were here.

Wii OF COURSE!

Movies: Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, Madagascar 2, Iron Man, Lord of the Beans, Minnesota Cuke

Park for play ground fun & roller skating before a storm drove us to Chuckie Cheeses.
Played Star Wars and Hide N Seek

Creation Museum

Went to IN at Perfect North for snow tubing.
Drove through Cincinnati to finally visit Ohio and see the city lights.

Mammoth Cave- My dad got to go with us here. Scott forgot about the time change, so we were a little early.

When we went in, it was raining. When we came out of the cave, things were amazingly white. Fun w/snowball fights!

The day of their departure was a great time for sledding, so they left an hour late and headed for the slope in the backyard. I am so glad they got in some sledding!
Cousin Kelly (the Bakers cousin) came for a few days too and got in on several outings. The boys were so excited to see her. Even Nicholas grabbed her up and gave her the house tour. The next morning he saw my TV in my room and said, "I forgot to show Kelly the TV." Kelly, Tonya and I had some great laughs staying up a lil too late one night. I think we were delirious.

Cousin Mike (the Bakers other cousin) got to meet us and joined us for tubing. He also got to help Tonya clean the ice on her windshield from when she tried to clear the window with washer fluid. Floridians!

Tonya got to slip on some ice before leaving. So did G8, but I don't think she laughed, so we might not want to remember that one. We all got a laugh at A13 slipping when getting out of the vehicle, but he caught himself hanging onto the car door. Unfortunately, N13 landed on him on a sledding trip to be sure he got to go home with injuries. Boys! 2 of them standing on one sled going down. One fell and the other on top!It is a good thing we get to see them again in a few weeks. It helped ease the pain of them leaving.

Why do you call me Lord?

In the rush of life these past weeks, I made myself finally sit down to pray this morning. I started out, "Lord,..." Then my thoughts went to these verses below, namely the part in bold. (Go down and at least read the bold part.) That was truly scarey! I am thinking I have been living my life based on what I know, but not at the feet of Jesus daily. I have failed lately too in my responses to people. That scares me when I think of the foundation story below also. Convicted again! Based on these, I need to remember to humble myself under His Lordship and quit acting like my life is my own.
Matthew 6:44-49 "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Pictures from Ice Storm

And one picture of our new bed and night stands! Kinda blury but, oh well.