Life at our house recently...

Well, tis the season for deer hunting and meat processing.  These good eaters will hopefully be good hunters someday.  They're learning to be good helpers now. :)  I can only imagine how much food we'll go through in about 10 years.  They come from long lines of good eaters from both sides.  LOL!

 Justin found Benjamin sleeping w/ his buck.  Seems like most night and naps he has one or both hands full of some kind of animal, tractor or truck.  I wonder what he dreams about??

 Wow...I've got some funny kids.  I was trying desperately to get Madi to look at the camera...it was a little loud and crazy...and it went down hill rapidly b/c B wanted out of the bucket...

 And when that happens?  Big bro, forces him.  Remember something similiar, Auntie Leah??

 Madeline got to go on a date w/ her Daddy on Saturday morning.  She was excited it was her turn!

 Later that afternoon, she and Justin went hunting.  Age 4 is the special age to go hunting w/ Daddy.  Madeline was so excited to go.  I'm going to have to ask again what they saw...I can't remember. :)  They didn't get one that afternoon...

 Daddy's special girl.  :)  She wants a sister so badly.  She asked me on Saturday, to write it down on my shopping list.  The other night, she said, "Mommy, I don't want toy babies anymore."  Me: "Well, why?"  Her, ever so wistfully: "Well, I just really want a real baby."  She'll hafta just love lots on Auntie Krista's new baby, here in a few months.  Tomorrow we find out if it's another girl cousin or a boy cousin.  Fun times!

Happy Monday!!

~Party for Liam~

One of the things I love about Justin's family is how much they love babies!  Yesterday, was my neice-in-law's baby shower.  It was so much fun!  There was lots of cackling and ooh-ing and aww-ing over Baby Liam--definitely  a typical "hen party" lol!

 Alyssa and Liam received great gifts...all of them were practical.  It was obvious they were given from moms to a new mom.  :)

 Great-Gramma Janeen is in the green and Gramma Becky is in the purple...they're the ones with the biggest smiles. :)

 The kids...enjoying the shower. :)

 Owen, my nephew, being a big helper w/ all the wrapping paper balls.

 This is Deb, Liam's other grandma...with another big smile. :)  It was so fun to see the baby-love. 

 It's extra-fun when the Grandma's are good friends. ;)  Alyssa is so blessed to have such family support.  What girl doesn't need all the moms, aunts, sisters, cousins, and friends she can get when embarking on this life-changing stage: Mamahood!

 Oh, and finally a picture of the gift-receiver. :)  Showers are such a treat when they're planned AFTER the baby is born.  The type A in me likes it the other way...but it IS so much more fun when there's a baby to pass around!

 Yes, and I'm going to have to get dibs on him for Thanksgiving...the line for holding Liam got too long yesterday...ha,ha.  I'll hafta get my baby fix on Thursday. :)

 Little Liam had a rough start...he's quite the trooper.  Not every baby can say they've had surgery before 8 weeks old.  Thankfully, he's healed, he's eating and gaining weight.  Praise God for modern medicine!

                                           Happy Mama and Happy Baby

'Twas such a lovely shower...good treats, wonderful gifts, and great company!  What a way to celebrate Liam's lil' life so far! 

It's that time of year again!

Pictures to make our memories last longer...

 The above photo was taken the day of Justin's dad's funeral.  I helped gather photos for the picture boards...and how glad I was/am that I've kept up with family pictures!  The one below was taken a few Christmases ago...  Pictures do make memories last longer :)

Memories from last week...

"don't waste time...don't waste time...don't waste time...."

We were able to celebrate the lives of two special people this past week, with the passing of Justin's dad, and also a long-time family friend of ours.  I've had lots of thoughts the past week about the importance of t-i-m-e.  Psalm 139 states that our days are numbered even before we are born.  We're given such a short time here on earth...what will we--what will I do--with that time God has given me?   There are just times when life forces us to stop...and consider life, and death.

Am I doing anything today that I'll regret?  Am I not doing something today that I'll wish I would've done?  Life is so short.  I remember my Grandma telling me after one of her 60 anniversaries, "A lifetime is never long enough."  Wow.  Even after living "it all"... it still seems short!

Never before have I realized how important relationships are.  I knew in my head they are important...but never felt it and lived it like I have this past week.  Relationships is where it is at.  Family, friends, church, and community relationships are the way we express and receive love: rejoicing when there's something to rejoice over, and weeping when there's something to grieve over.

Last night, after the visitation and in anticipation of the funeral today, I couldn't sleep.  Memories kept flooding my mind...keeping me awake till what seemed like forever.  The sound of her voice, her inflections, and special way she'd laugh and gesture kept replaying and ringing in my ears.

The reality of these people being gone seems surreal to me.  I know they are not "lost" or "gone"...but to my earthly mind, I can't comprehend what it means to be "absent from the body, and present with the Lord"  On this side of eternity, I suppose it can't be fully understood.  Helping our children understand death, in some ways, simplifies it for me.  Hearing my wise husband patiently explain these things to my children, helps me understand it in a small measure.  It's one of those things we really don't sit down and talk about until life forces us to.

Death is so final and so permanent in this life.  I realize eternity is long, but comparatively, life here, is just a "vapor"...as short as the life of a flower, as the Bible describes.

Life is just too short to:
be angry
be frustrated 
hold a grudge
not forgive,
be caught up with the "good" instead of the "best"
have priorities upside down
be too caught up in political issues, world events & national financial crises
be shaken constantly by "daily life"
live "stressed out"
speak harshly
be exasperated with my kids...

Let me be...

a little kinder
a lot more gracious
way less critical
offer more words of encouragement and affirmation
more thankful--especially to the people I love
more interested in others
a better listener
"roof off/walls down" type-of-gal
less me-focused & more others-focused
wiser with: my time, energy and my resources
more mindful of my example, my emotions and my attitudes

Let me take the time...
to kiss longer and more often
look eye-to-eye with my kids and tell them how special they are to me
to sit and play with them
to intentionally have "no agenda"
to stop and watch them dance, swing, laugh, and build
to be silly
to tickle
to greet my hubby when he comes through the door
to communicate love, appreciation, thankfulness and respect to him
to give him my full attention
to dream with him or them
to laugh
to "thank" God instead of always "asking"

Life has the tendency to "get in the way"  Death has stopped me in my tracks and caused me to consider my life, the time God has given me, eternity, and my relationships.  What if tomorrow was my last day here on earth?

I want to live life to the brim...and overflowing.  To savor all the special gifts God has blessed me with...to cherish the memories, love more, complain less, pray more, talk less.  Enjoy it--laugh--and sing. 




"What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord...
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."  Psalm 116:13 and 15

"Enjoy the life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your life..."  Ecc. 9:9

(I shall be reading the book of Ecclesiastes this week...for a perspective refresher...)