cute alphabet letters

My sister passed this idea along to me. Great idea for those who like to sew!

A Photo Shoot Attempt

I thought it would be cute to get a picture of the matching boys...



Real quick, before naptime...


Ok, ok, nevermind. Go back to wrestling...



Naptime, it is...

Bright Pink Envelopes

After asked to sit down on the couch, I was presented with two pink envelopes from my 9 year old and 7 year old.

In it were two poems:

Happy Birthday Mama!
Have a Happy Birthday in this wonderful New Year.
We love you Mama.
Roses are red Violets are blue
and that is why we love you!!!

Love, Micah.

The other one read:

Happy Birthday Mama!

Happy Birthday Mama!
May, it bring joy to you,
You've been a great parent,
and make us glad too.

Your kindness and faithfulness
and being so smart,
Brings us to know,
You're a work of art!

If it weren't for you, we would be oh, so sad!
But now that you're here,
we're extremely glad.

Years have grown so fast,
so have you,
and surprisingly now,
you're at the age
thirty-two!

We each have something special,
We're sure you'll love it!
It's the best we can give,
and it's small, I admit.

We each have a birthday envelope,
with your present in it too,
Happy Birthday, Mama! We love you!

Love, Sophia

(Enclosed was a lovely, homemade pot holder!)

Josh, my 5 year old, said because it was my birthday, he would make a tent out of a sheet (draped over the floor vent to 'poof it out').

As the day progressed I laughed at how requests had a different twist to them. "Mom, since it's your birthday, can I...?"

A birthday can't get much better than this!

11 years

I was 20 (turning 21 two days later) when I married him 11 years ago. It was in the middle of our Junior Year at Hillsdale College. We were paupers. But we were happy. We saw examples of good, generous people from the beginning- people we wanted to emulate someday. We took the first job we could get a year and a half later to support the new baby on the way. In 11 years we've moved 7 times and had 5 children. We've experienced the joys of parenting, traveling worldwide together, job promotions and gaining priceless friends over the years. However, it was the struggles of living through very difficult conflicts and a death of our child that I see God's grace so visibly orchestrating. I'm glad I have him to go through life with. God is merciful. God is soo good. I'm thankful for him.