It is time for a brief spotlight on my Man. Amazing things happen wherever he goes...err...stays.
To start, it snowed about six inches last weekend on his Friday off (yes, in the middle of April). So he took the children outside and built an entire snow family in twenty-five minutes flat...say what?!
But that's not enough for one day. That afternoon he and Levi whipped up a homemade marble run out of scraps of wood in the garage.
The next morning, he got our newly renovated storage room all fixed up for me! We had to rearrange things because of the new pipe for the radon fan going up the middle of the far wall where the lockers used to be. We got it all put back together and then he put up shelves across from the lockers! It is so nice to have everything back together again...and of course it is much improved from what it was before! Now if I just had the energy and time...we would love to paint those lockers someday!
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| Yay!! |
Sunday afternoon he built us up a nice fire for a wiener roast on a beautiful evening! (Yep, snow all gone and 60 degree weather!)
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| Such a nice time! |
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| I was feeling so...domestic...that week. Homemade graham crackers and chocolate bars. I didn't make my own marshmallows because I wasn't sure if they would roast well. |
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| S'mores!! |
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| Ain't we all so "lucky"...? Matt had to travel to Missouri to do some power line design work on Wednesday. He found a four leaf clover to bring home! |
This weekend the guy was back at it again. Friday night he pieced together a homemade steam generator and steam box for bending wood. He has been working on making a wooden highchair/booster chair for Joanna (he made homemade wooden projects for the boys' first birthdays and never got around to Joanna's, so it will probably be a second birthday gift). For the back of the chair, he needed to bend a piece of wood and has been trying to figure out how to get it done. Well...he did it!
What's cookin'...
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| My second batch of oatmeal honey whole wheat sourdough bread turned out amazing! I think I improved every glitch from round one. Except the poor photography glitch, but maybe we'll get that worked out next time when I don't take a picture at all. :) |
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| Homemade almond flour graham crackers...The baking time on the recipe was about twice what it should have been for how thin I rolled them, so they were kind of overdone but still edible for our s'mores! |
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| Is it ice cream season yet?! I keep the canister for my 1.5 qt ice cream maker stored in the freezer so I can make ice cream on any impulse! Strawberry Almond Ice Cream |
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| Eggs Italian was a new dish to all of us. It is basically pasta sauce in a bowl with cheese and two eggs on top, baked in the oven. It seemed like a strange concoction, but it tasted like spaghetti with eggs instead of meat and noodles, maybe? Hubby said it was pretty good so it must not have been too strange! *IF* I make it again I would try it in a casserole dish rather than individual bowls. |
Then on to babies and children.
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| Somebody was cozied up with some good books one morning! |
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| Five baby geese hatched on our pond last week! The goose family spent a day on our pond before making their annual trek over to U. Troy's pond down the road. |
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| Smiles all around! |
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| The children picked me a bunch of flowers! So sweet! |
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| When Joanna picks flowers for me...it comes in as two big handfuls of grass and dirt and I get to sift the flowers out to keep. She is so precious!! |
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| I have had some good helpers with the dishes recently! I told Matt I don't know what I would do without such good helpers. I would get the dishes done so fast that I would have way too much extra time on my hands! But it is definitely the thought that counts and makes my mama heart sing! |
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| Why do I include this picture? Because it is one of 81 identical pictures that showed up on our phone. I think we can say she has officially taken her first selfie...that is, her first 81 selfies. |
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| I guess this classifies under the children category because I was at my 24 week prenatal checkup (which went very well!) and endured my first mask experience. At the front door of the hospital I was screened and given a homemade mask to wear. It ended up being ok since it had music notes on it...but the smell of fabric softener was giving me some breathing issues. Hence the eyeballs...attractive selfies are not a strength of this family. |
This week was my third trip to town since the mass chaos started. I see a lot more masks being worn in the stores. They seem to be turning into a fashion statement! I am clearly out of the loop and hadn't even thought about wearing a mask.
I have recently become very prayerful and hopeful that the governor and others in authority will respond to the powers of wisdom rather than fear. I am praying that things will open back up soon and we can resume "normal" life. If the premises for such a thing is ridding the world of this disease, then God has the power to do that at any time as well. While I do feel it is our Christian calling to submit to our government's leadership and follow their social distancing policies, I also believe most of the chaos and shutdown has stemmed from fear that has overtaken the world.
Thankfully, Jesus has overcome the world; in Him there is no fear! He is our hope...He is in control...He has the power to conquer this disease - or even more, the disease of fear itself! He will give our leaders wisdom to make decisions, and He will bring everyone back together again! Disease, fear, worry, chaos, uncertainty...it all comes from the devil. The God we serve is one of HOPE - LOVE - ORDER - AND HEALING!!
Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the enemy, and today our prayers are as urgent as ever!
If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:21-22
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:2-8
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:22-23
"For he is faithful that promised..."
I hope and pray that all of our family and friends have been overcoming the gloom and doom and worry of these times. It is a challenge to overcome these evil thoughts when we do not get the regular fellowship, encouragement, and realistic Christian perspectives from our church family. When isolated from other Christians, it is easy for our primary source of information and perspectives to come from the news and social media. Those perspectives of speculation, uncertainty, protest, bias, whatever they are...do not identify with Christ! Even if we think we can read it all while maintaining a clear perspective, the gloom still begins to eat away at our spirits without us knowing it.
Be prayerful with hope rather than worrying with fear. Meditate on God's word rather than on man's surmising. Not only will this fill our individual hearts with God's spirit of wisdom, but I also believe it is how we will change the world!
Thanks for reading. We love you all!
