Home from New York!

We're so glad to have Phil home! The kids and I arrived at the airport about 15 minutes before his plane landed, so I took them out to the rental car area and we were able to watch his plane come in and "park," as Jared calls it. We hurried over to the baggage claim and were there just in time to see him come down the ramp. Phil took this picture of the kids holding up their "Welcome Home Daddy" signs as he walked down the ramp.


Phil met his dad in New York at the family cottage on Keuka Lake so they could work on the floor.



Nice rental car!



They were able to spend their evenings down by the lake after working hard all day.


Time to go home!

The Floor

Here are a few pictures of the floor. Doesn't it look beautiful? Phil said this is called acid etching.

Busy Bees

Phil is in-flight now and heading home! We'll pick him up from the airport in about 4 hours. We've busy little bees around here. Here are a few of the projects the kids have been working on this past week. (On a side note, I have to mention that Lily is singing to me as I'm typing this: "He's got the little, bitty babies in His hands....He's got the whole world in His hands. He's got the rain and the apple juice in His hands...").


I found these cute little plaster of paris figurines at WalMart for only 44 cents apiece. They're lined up in birth order. Yes, those are teeth marks on the kitty's head (that would be Gracie's).




Jared and Caleb worked very on these during the girls' nap time.

Bye bye, Miss Emily

We've had a wonderful visit with Emily! She's so good with the kids; they love it when "Miss Emily, the Pretty Girl" comes to visit.

We've kept her so busy--I'm not sure this has been much of a vacation for her.

On Friday, we went to the children's museum, the wagon slide and Sonic for lunch. On Saturday, we drove out to an apple orchard to pick apples and to have a picnic. On Sunday we went to church, made a pizza for dinner and an apple pie for dessert. We'll take her to the airport after lunch, so we're just spending our morning snuggling on the couch, reading books.

Apple Picking

My wonderful friend, Emily, is visiting us this weekend! We took the kids to pick apples this morning. The weather was beautiful, the apples sweet, the kids adorable...it made for a perfect outing.

This Makes Me Happy...

If my memory serves me correctly (but it usually doesn't), I think it's about that time for Starbucks to start serving their Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

Just to make sure, I checked my blog archives for last August and I found this post. It just so happens that I enjoyed my first one of the season a year ago today! Anyone want to go have a cup with me?

Eeek!

As many of you know, I hate rodents of any sort. But since I love Jared, I said, "yes" when he asked me to make these little mice puppets featured in Gracie's Disney magazine. From left to right: Gracie's mouse, Caleb's mouse, Jared's mouse, and Lily's mouse. She said, "I do myself" only about a dozen times.

They really did have a great time. They only look annoyed because I forgot to take pictures while they were working and I made everybody get back into their chairs for a quick shot.

I would have to say that Lily enjoyed this the most, because she's in love with her purple glue stick...

...as you can see.

All Tucked In

Phil called a bit ago and reported that he arrived safely. I had a sweet evening with the kids tonight. We miss Phil, but God is good, and He filled our day with lots of nice surprises. Some friends of ours from Phil's class stopped by to visit this afternoon and then stayed for dinner.


We've been reading from Little House in the Big Woods at bedtime. Does anyone else love this book to pieces like I do? O.k., maybe the whole series?



I found this great full-color edition at the library. Look at these sweet pictures! We read from the Christmas chapter tonight. We were so happy when we read this portion:

"The day before Christmas they came. Laura and Mary heard the gay ringing of sleigh bells, growing louder every moment, and then the big bobsled came out of the woods and drove up to the gate. Aunt Eliza and Uncle Peter and the cousins were in it, all covered up, under blankets and robes and buffalo skins...when they came in, the little house was full and running over."

It reminded us of our first Christmas here in Spokane! Aunt Corinne came to visit us the week before Christmas, and Aunt Becky and cousins Morgan and Lindsay arrived Christmas night in the snow, all bundled up. Aunt Becky's "sleigh," though, was a 10 passenger van! Although a mistake on the part of the rental car company, it was just what we needed. There just so happened to be 10 of us here, all snug in our little house.

Before reading this chapter, I put a little of this peppermint lotion on each of the kids' hands.



I noticed them sniffing their little hands while I read of peppermint sticks and making pictures in the snow. And they all gasped and clapped when Laura finally got her very own doll!

Thank you, Lord, for these sweet moments today.

Eight Days

Phil left for New York today. He'll be gone for 8 days. The boys are outside in the backyard right now watching for their daddy's plane to fly overhead. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only 8 days this time and not 8 weeks that we'll be apart, like last summer. So for every day that passes, I'll just tell myself, "Be thankful that was only a day, and not a whole week."

I'll let you know if it works. :)

Movie Night

Well, we didn't get away with it, Phil and I. Jared was the first one to spot the pictures on the blog of mommy and daddy's outdoor movie night.

So, one bowl of popcorn and several blankets and pillows later, we were outdoors under the stars--I mean, the clouds--for a family movie night extravaganza! Notice the tablecloth over the laptop, just in case it started to rain.

The kids chose to watch Bugtime Adventures.

Anyone want to snuggle in with Caleb? I'm sure he'd share that piece of popcorn under his chin!

The movie wasn't our only source of entertainment.

Early Risers

If you're a mother of young children, most likely you're an early riser. I used to like to get up before my children, but since we've moved to a house with creaky hardwood floors, it's nearly impossible to move about freely in the morning without waking up any of the little ones. I've tried a few times, but each time I do, I wake somebody up and spend my entire quiet time keeping him or her in the bedroom. Now I wake up when my children do, but I feel like I rush to get breakfast on the table. I enjoy being in my kitchen and I love to make special meals for my family, but when I rush through this time, I know it sets a negative tone in our home for the whole morning.

This past week over at The Homespun Heart, Monica posted instructions to create a great recipe book and I made one specifically for breakfast recipes. Waking up before my family, providing a nice breakfast for them and even planning the night before have been on my mind a lot lately. What a blessing it was to read her post based on Proverbs 31:15: "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." It's just what I needed!

Click here to see her instructions and to download her cute recipe cards.

Lost and Found

Jared lost another tooth tonight during dinner! This is his second. He lost his first tooth in California this summer while we were camping. Sorry, I couldn't get a good picture of him. He didn't like the flash in his eyes. And Phil found this great retro toy fridge at the thrift store for only $2.50.

Hmm...what's for dinner?

Isn't this great?

Club Powerhouse

Phil and the boys made a great fort outside this afternoon called Club Powerhouse. Unfortunately, anything "boys only" around here has to be done during the girls' nap time. Phil's Grandma Joe would have loved to see him using one of her quilts to make a fort for his boys.

This will be the sign for the entrance to the fort.

A New Fence

Phil's at it again with another great project! He tore down the chain link fence on our patio and he's replacing it with beautiful cedar fencing.

Power tools and little helpers can make a mommy nervous.


Good job, Lily!