Time for a Smile

The last few weeks, well actually months, have been, um...rough isn't the right word, because God's grace has been amazing through every thing, but things haven't been "smooth" We've had a broken wrist, a herniated disc and a numb arm, strep throat, vomiting, lung infections, ear infections, vomiting again, hot, hot soup spilled in a lap, deep deep snow, and record cold days. Now I don't list these things to seek sympathy or anything like that, I simply want to tell you how amazing God's timing is. You see, through all these hard days we've been having I truly have had the peace that only God can give! But also the kids and I have been reading The Hiding Place (The story of Corrie Ten Boom's life - and how she survived a Nazi concentration camp), and each day we would read a little more about the difficulties she faced and the way that they increased her faith. It was so neat to hear Mak applying some of what he has learned when, just after vomiting he said "I'm so thankful we have toilets". Now that may sound strange, but Corrie's sister had thanked God for fleas, weeks before she learned that those fleas were what kept the guards out of their dorms, which allowed them time to read their Bible, and we so we had discussed being thankful in all situations. God knows that being a Mom to five can be rough at times, getting everything done sometimes seems impossible, but putting things in perspective helps so much. The laundry and dishes will always be here, but time passes quickly, these are the years that I have to train my children in the way they should go. Why I am taking one of my few free moments to blog I don't really know, other than to give God the glory in the midst of this "rough" time, and to remind myself that I really do love my "job".



And now, for a smile....Chatham was supposed to be reading to me, and though I was listening I was faced the other direction. When I turned around, I couldn't help but smile and I wanted to share that smile with you!

Yes, that is a pencil and an eraser!

Let it snow?

Well, a lot has happened since last week. Getting a cast is actually the smallest news we've had.

Here's a recap: The day TJ got his cast we were supposed to go ice skating, but it was too cold, -26 to be exact, did you catch that minus sign?. Two days later I found myself back at the Dr. office because TJ had strep throat, and the next day he was vomiting. Tuesday rolled around and the huge snow forcast was very accurate, it took six tries to get my van up the driveway at 11am and it took David 90 minutes to go 25 miles on highway roads to get home that night. The next day it took him the same amount of time to get himself unstuck from the middle of our driveway, and that was the least of our concerns. These pictures show the damage to the greenhouses. The weight of the snow was too much for the roofs in some spots.






The shot of the boys is on our front walkway where they were supposed to shovel a path...there is a "ditch" there now that is only ankle deep instead of knee or waist (depending on who you are). So needless to say we were literally snowed in, which would have been ok had it not been for the fact that Jack and Kayte were both sick. We had to wait through a long and painful night before we were able to get out on the snow packed roads today and get them to a Dr. Now, I am safe at home with antibiotics for my two little ones, and I really have no desire to go anywhere!








Maybe someday I'll give you a commentary on the other reasons I dislike winter - but just to give you a hint we have ten little hands and ten little feet that grow out of, or loose one of their pair of boots and/or gloves (not to mention hats and coats). Ugh!

Life

Kaytence is now four months old and life continues on...Nina "helped" Jack take a nap last week....Jack was a construction man/football player, and Chatham chased Mak who fell on TJ and broke his arm....again. What is that saying about history repeating itself? Such is life in our house.

A group shot

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTP97901010009JCP

Same routine as with Kayte.
Getting all of them together is so much more difficult than getting them individually.