So, Carrie and I had our first craft sale this weekend! The only bummer is that it was probably in a bad location because it was REALLY SLOW! We did sell some greeting cards and a snuggle rag blanket/pillow set. We aren't discouraged, though. We handed out a lot of business cards! It was good advertising, if nothing else. Plus, it was fun to spend all that time with Carrie! :)
We did have a fun weekend. We are planning on finding another (busier!) craft show to be in really soon. I loved doing it!

cUte kiD QuoTe

As I was teaching school this morning, Brianna yells up from downstairs,

"Mom, come here! Mom, come here! Keaton did something! The T.V. is fuzzing!!"

Keaton must have pushed a button on the remote to turn it fuzzy. :)

Hunting trip

Aaron has taken both Alex and Taylor on seperate hunting trips this year. They went somewhere close to home, which was nice. This picture is right before Alex and Daddy left for their afternoon adventure. Alex wasn't sure about the glowing orange hat (with all of her high fashion sense she's got now.)

Alex spotted a deer late into the afternoon! Aaron turned and got ready to aim with his bow and arrow. He ended up taking the shot and hit the deer! It was really exciting for both of them. It was too dark, however, to go track the deer that night (since they had forgotten to bring a flashlight), so they had to come home empty-handed that night. Alex told the whole story when she got home and they decided that they would go back out the next morning to try to spot the deer.

They got up bright and early and went with Darin to go track down the deer. They found it!!! Alex got to experience a hunt from start to finish. She really enjoyed having that time with Daddy. And now we have some meat in the freezer!!

Daddy's Birthday!

It was Aaron's birthday a few weeks back. Just getting the pics on here now... :) We went to BWW for dinner (where Aaron could get his favorite wings!) and then came home for birthday cake. We had to get a little creative with the candles to make his age since we couldn't find a "3". :) No, he's not 1,115. What do you think??
We had pizza for lunch.

Happy Birthday, honey! I hope you felt God's grace and blessings on you!

We love you!

Fall leaves

Yeah, so I know this is past due... But so cute! The kids really enjoyed the fall leaves falling this year. Daddy let them mess them up a couple times before he took care of them. :)

Whatcha been learnin', Keats?

I'm learnin' how to sweep with Mom. Sometimes, I even do it on my own!

I've learned how to climb up on the table and get my mommy to laugh just long enough to take my picture!

I love to "read"!

Reading the mail with Daddy....

You should see Keats face when we ask him if he wants to feed the dog. He starts "jumping" up and down as he starts to squeal with excitement and runs to the door! He goes and scoops the food (with a little help) from in the garage and then brings it through the house to the deck outside where Scout eats.

Scout waits with much anticipation!!
What a big helper!

Good job, Keats!
You're getting to be such a big boy, Keaton! We love you.

What's been happenin? Part one.

Nan was practicing taking pics. Pretty good, huh?

"I think Halloween is my favorite holiday. Candy!!!" Can you see the leftovers?

Somehow, I missed getting pics of Alex and Taylor in their costumes, but they were all fairies, just like this pic of Brianna. It was even warm enough to not have to wear coats!

Keats was a lion. :)

Cleaning out the stuff in the pumpkins. Even Keats was helping! They did such a good job working together. And didn't get too messy, either! :)

Our "orange" lunch for Halloween. :) I even let them have orange pop with caffeine!!!

Field trip at home. Keaton learning what the garbage truck does. He was amazed!

K, so I know it's past this time now, but it is too pretty not to share. This is my favorite tree in our backyard in the fall. It turns the prettiest pink/red you've ever seen!

It brings me to think of the awesomeness of God.

Keats was learning how feed himself with a spoon here. I think he was getting ice cream!

Yeah! High fives!

So, we've been keeping busy... We are a blessed family!

Our country

My heart is extraordinarily heavy and burdened today for our country. I cannot help but be in a constant state of prayer to our God. I have prayed and pleaded with God: God, PLEASE save our nation! We have forgotten you. We have told you to leave. We have not trusted in you. We have lived for idols rather than you. We have not loved you. We do not deserve you. We do not deserve you to save our nation! I am so sorry. Please change us! But God, I again ask. PLEASE save our nation! I thank You that You still love us through Jesus. I thank You that You still have given us the Gospel! I thank You that You are still wanting what is for our best. I thank You that Your Will will still be accomplished!!!

Amen!

cuTe kiD QuoTE

We were on our way out the door this morning to go get our pumpkins for carving when I noticed a bit of leftover breakfast on Brianna's cheek. I proceeded to lick my finger to get it moist and then wipe off the remaining Cocoa Puff chocolate. She said,

"Stop! Stop! That's gross! Stop getting your lick on me!"

I couldn't help but laugh. :)

To all the stay-at-home mommies

"A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air,
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.

My cage confines me round,
Abroad I cannot fly,
But though my wing is closely bound,
My soul is at liberty;
For prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul."

I found this poem on a friend's blog. Wow, it was really helpful to remind me of where God has placed me and that I can find joy where I am. In all this struggling with contentment, I am forgetting to enjoy the life God has given me. I wouldn't be happier anywhere else.

Our weekend

So, Aaron was gone from Thursday to Sunday down in Preston, MN hunting with his brother, Darin. They had such a good time, even though Aaron didn't come home with a prize... It's been a long time since he's gone bow hunting for deer - years! But he had fun, anyway. And he has plenty of time left to get out there and get a deer!

We stayed home, here and kept busy enough. Gina came up from Iowa to visit and actually took Alex and Taylor to a cabin with a few other friends and their kids. I could tell by the time they got back on Sunday that they were all a bit tired. :) They had lots of fun, too, with campfires and smores, watching movies, exploring the lake and nature, and enjoying meeting new friends.

Carrie and I had a work day on Friday sewing up a couple blankets and getting pictures ready to put up on our website. We are so excited to be starting a website for our crafts! We definitely have lots of work to do, but we still love doing it! It has been such a good year or so for us. We have had so much fun hanging out and being together!

It was fun to be with Brianna and Keaton for a day. It was weird to have only 2 kiddos! We had a lunch date at Mrs. Dondo's (McDonald's), which Brianna really enjoyed! :) Nap time was nice, of course. Time to myself!

All in all, it was a good, busy weekend. It will be nice to be all together again, though, this week. It's just never the same when someone is missing....

"But who may abide the day of his coming?" Malachi 3:2

His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for Him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting Him when He came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession, and few enough could abide the process. But what will His second advent be? What sinner can endure to think of it? "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." When in His humiliation He did but say to the soldiers, "I am He," they fell backward; what will be the terror of His enemies when He shall more fully reveal Himself as the "I am"? His death shook the earth and darkened heaven, what shall be the dreadful splendour of that day in which as the living Saviour, He shall summon the quick and the dead before Him? O that the terrors of the Lord would persuade men to forsake their sins and kiss the Son lest He be angry! Though a lamb, He is yet a lion of the tribe of Judah, rending the prey in pieces; and though He breaks not the bruised reed, yet will He break His enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. None of His foes shall bear up before the tempest of His wrath, or hide themselves from the sweeping hail of His indignation; but His beloved bloowashed people look for His appearing with joy, and hope to abide it without fear: to them He sits as a refiner even now, and when He has tried them they shall come forth as gold. Let us search ourselves this morning and make our calling and election sure, so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be found of Him sincere and without rebuke in the day of His appearing.

Spurgeon

"But He answered her not a word." - Matthew 15:23

Genuine seekers who as yet have not obtained the blessing, may take comfort from the story before us. The Saviour did not at once bestow the blessing, even though the woman had great faith in Him. He intended to give it, but He waited awhile. "He answered her not a word." Were not her prayers good? Never better in the world. Was not her case needy? Sorrowfully needy. Did she not feel her need sufficiently? She felt it overwhelmingly. Was she not earnest enough? She was intensely so. Had she no faith? She had such a high degree of it that even Jesus wondered, and said, "O woman, great is thy faith." See then, although it is true that faith brings peace, yet it does not always bring it instantaneously. There may be certain reasons calling for the trial of faith, rather than the reward of faith. Genuine faith may be in the soul like a hidden seed, but as yet it may not have budded and blossomed into joy and peace. A painful silence from the Saviour is the grievous trial of many a seeking soul, but heavier still is the affliction of a harsh cutting reply such as this, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." Many in waiting upon the Lord find immediate delight, but this is not the case with all. Some, like the jailer, are in a moment turned from darkness to light, but others are plants of slower growth. A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of pardon, and in such a case you will have need of patience to bear the heavy blow. Ah! poor heart, though Christ beat and bruise thee, or even slay thee, trust Him; though He should give thee an angry word, believe in the love of His heart. Do not, I beseech thee, give up seeking or trusting my Master, because thou hast not yet obtained the conscious joy which thou longest for. Cast thyself on Him, and perseveringly depend even where thou canst not rejoicingly hope.

Wow - what a cutie!

Who is that girl???

We hardly recognize Taylor with her new haircut! She's wanted her hair cut for a long time. We've always felt like her long hair was her trademark because it is so curly and beautiful. I don't know... I think she's looking quite adorable! :) And she's looking a bit like someone I know. Can anyone guess??

Just had to share...

The first song on my playlist here has helped me so much in the last couple months. Take a minute to listen. What a blessing the words are to me. Thank you, God, for giving us the gift of music!

Cutie pie!

Daddy and Keaton were playing with a ball last night that is rubber and has suction cups. They were throwing it against the downstairs sliding glass door and one time, it was up too high for Keats to reach. So, he promptly went over to the drum on the floor, brought it over, stood up on it and tried to reach the ball. His efforts were very great and smart, however, the ball was still just a little out of reach... See the ball??

Poor Keats. :( Good try, though, buddy!

Beauty

Aaron brought this rose in for me from a bush in the backyard. He knew I was really struggling that day and he brought it in to cheer me up. Thank you, Aaron, for being my wonderful, loving husband! I just had to take a picture of it and share it with you. Isn't it beautiful??

Girl's lunch!

I met my high school girlfriends for lunch the other day. There's about 6 of us that still keep in touch, which is so cool! We meet about 4 or 5 times a year (or more, if someone has a baby!) just to chat and hang out and tell each other all about our families' lives. It is always such a sweet time! Candace (left), me, Holly, Jessica with her daughter, Raelyn, and Angie made it this time. Amber couldn't make it... :( We missed seeing her!

It was so good to catch up on the latest and see how God has still been working in all of our lives! We are all so blessed!

Family night (well, part of us, anyway)

We had so much fun taking Alex and Taylor out for a night of fun! First, we went downtown to the Old Spaghetti Factory to have some dinner. They thought it was so cool to eat in such a pretty place!

Here we are starting out on our (1/2) family night! On our way downtown...

They sat to pose for a pic in the restaraunt.
Daddy and Tay got to sit next to each other. They loved their food!
Mommy and Alex. We, of course, enjoyed our food as well.
At the game...

Ok, so we had to buy the girls just ONE treat. So, they picked cotton candy. Yum!

We snapped a few shots of the players. We were so close to the field, we could see them very well!

Yes, Aaron was posing for this one... :)
What a fun night we had! Glad you had so much fun, girls. We love you!

cUTe KiD quOtE

Brianna tried to get in her chair this morning to eat her bagel. On her way up, she fell and hit her elbow on the booster.

"Owie!" says Nan.

"What did you hurt?" asked Mom.

"My t-bone!" she said.

Tay Tay's first tooth!

Taylor lost her first tooth! She was so excited and was such a tough little girl! I don't think she even cried when Daddy pulled it out! Good job, Tay!

Catching up... Again.

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've posted pictures. Here are some catch up photos to keep you updated on the fam. :)

To start us off...

Aaron went on another trip to China. Bethany came for half the time. What a blessing! She brought her second son, Zac with her this time. It was so good to see him again!

What a cutie!
Brianna talking to Daddy. She really missed him. Can you tell?
Bethany is so thankful that I got this shot of her eating her breakfast. :)

Aaron brought back some gifts for us. He brought the girls some beautiful silk scarves. They wear them around their heads and around their waists as belts. Pretty!

Just a pic of Keaton while Daddy was gone.

He brought me back a coach purse. It's pink! Yay!
Our girlies

Our little drummer boy. :)

Really getting into it here!

Alex and Taylor on a day during school. They are such hard workers!

Keaton and Brianna are good about playing together during school hours. They are such buds!
Sometimes, Keaton does this, too, during school! :)
Who ever thought it would happen. My first baby girl is growing up! She asked one day if she could just go outside by herself and read a book. I caught her up on the trampoline reading away. I was struck at how time is going so fast with our kids. What a blessing they are.

This is our first Science project for school this year. We will be studying Astronomy in depth all year! I think I am more excited than the girls!

We made our solar system. Can you guess all the planets?

The girls have been asking to sleep in their tent for a night. We said "no" to school nights, so we let them on a weekend night.

They had such a good time! Who knows if it was really all that comfy... :)

Daddy and Keaton kinda matched one day. We thought it was cute, so we snapped a shot.
I think Keats was really happy here! Sweetheart!