Family Photo Shoot 2018

I am not sure how many years it has been, but every fall Kayla blesses me by gifting me with the promise of a family photo shoot!

This past fall was no exception.

It is getting trickier to get a time to get everyone together, dressed up, and all while it is still daylight!

Our first attempt at photos was way back at the end of October!

Grant never made it to the photo shoot that evening, so we knew we would have to try again later – which we did!

Kayla grabbed these photos of Grant at our second attempt, but the photos of everyone else at our first attempt!

We made a our second plan for a Sunday afternoon (just days before Briar was born!!) – but it was FREEZING cold!

We literally ran under a fence and into a field at David and Kayla’s farm, huddled together, smiled, and then ran back under the fence to walk down the driveway a bit for that last shot before we all jumped back into the warm van!

Mission accomplished!!

Our yearly photo shoot is important to me and I am so grateful that Kayla helps us make this happen!

These photos will be cherished!

Thank you, my sweet daughter, for blessing us with this gift!

We are SO grateful for all you do!!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Blake!!

This past Sunday we all gathered to celebrate our leader!

Monday was Blake’s birthday!!

We all agree that the BEST part of birthdays is the blessing of preparing for someone else’s!

This year I planned the meal for Blake without out even mentioning it to him!

I KNOW.

Shame, shame!!

He is not very good at telling you what he wants though!

We made jambalaya, cornbread skillet, and cole slaw!

All of the party goers enjoyed the party hats as well as the meal!

There were gifts.

It’s tradition!

I love the crowd of little people around their Daddy and G Pa!!

Can you hear River making a truck noise by looking at his face in this photo?!

He is SO cute!!

We had roasted bananas, ice cream and whipped cream for dessert.

My hubby is a steady man!!

He enjoys the same dessert every single year!

At the end of the party it was time for our traditional “it’s-Blake’s-birthday” photo of our original nine!!

This year we added one precious baby Briar to the photo – cause poor David had his hands very full of three other little people while trying to take this!

SO.

About this man we were celebrating.

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

He breaks our hearts in the best possible way for this world we live in – when we sadly realize that all husbands and fathers are not burdened to reflect the very image of God the way Blake is burdened to.

He loves us unconditionally every day in every way – and is continually making ALL of my dreams come true!

He TRUSTS the Lord with the good and the hard, wears his FAITH visibly and openly, and he PURSUES me the way a husband should.

I am just NOT worthy to call this man mine and to be trusted with building our legacy together.

But I am SO, so, so glad the Lord saw fit for this to be so.

Mr. Blake, you are loved.

From the very depth of my heart and soul, I only love Jesus more than you!

Happy, happy birthday, sweetheart!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

O Lord, My God, You Are Very Great

“Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.

He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.”

Psalm 104 KJV

School These Days

My homeschooling career started 19 years ago, and I STILL LOVE, LOVE IT!

Being my children’s teacher is so fulfilling.

I praise the Lord for that fact!

Over our Christmas break I spent many days planning school.

Yes, that says days!

Ever since our “first day” of school back in August, I have just been winging it.

There have been SO many other things needing my attention!

All good things!

But I missed planning school and having a good plan to follow SO much.

I’m glad to be back at it to bring this important thing to fruition!

I planned four weeks of school over Christmas break – including four weeks of FIAR.

FIAR is my favorite way of schooling the kiddos!

Take a book, read it, and run with ALL kinds of learning based on that one story.

It’s SO FUN!

This past week we started our learning from a book called Hanna’s Cold Winter.

It’s about a family that saves the hippos in a zoo in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II.

As I am reading the book aloud to the children, they have a tic tac toe board of words they are listening for.

This activity builds listening skills!

And it builds vocabulary and spelling skills too!

We read a go along book called The Butterfly which is about a French family who was hiding Jews in their cellar during the Nazi occupation in France also during World War II.

These books have sparked SO much conversation!

The best part of reading aloud to your kiddos!

Since we read a book called The Butterfly, we did a butterfly craft!

I get all of my FIAR and craft ideas on Pinterest!

First we outlined our butterflies with black glue.

After the glue dried, we water colored our butterflies.

Then it was time to decorate them!

The kiddos enjoyed that craft a lot.

We have many more go along books to read and hands on activities to do based on the book Hanna’s Cold Winter.

School these days is good.

So very good!

Looking forward to many more days of learning with these kiddos!!