Valentine's party

We have a party every year with our homeschool mom's group. The kids decorate boxes (mine used kleenex boxes covered in brown mailing paper and decorated with drawings in marker and love related stamps. We handmade valentines with a stamp of 1 Corinthians 13 (from our wedding invitations) and another pretty stamp on the inside that said Love and all of the girls signed their names. There was also much candy handed out. All of us in the group are pretty careful about everyone's sugar intake, but on Valentine's we let them go crazy! We also had heart shaped pizza made out of pita bread (super easy and yummy) and decorated cookies.

Sunny days!

I'm not sure why I don't have a pic of Hannah on my camera from this day- I took a couple of them, because she was riding her new bike (thanks, Grandpa and Mamoo!)... but when I went to upload them they weren't there. Perhaps a very precocious 18 month old was pressing buttons on the camera again when I wasn't looking. So I'll do a private photo shoot with Hannah next time we get a warm spell to satiate all of her adoring fans! :) It was over 60 degrees for two days last week, and we enjoyed every second of it! Erin's second picture is by the window that we are replacing in a few weeks (hooray!) and the compost bin that I made out of one of our garbage cans. The weather was so great, we got a lot of outdoor work done- and Nate was able to come out and put some holes in the bin for me and work on the car, too (there's a spot of rust on the door that he's been working on, but he had to put on hold because of the temperature). He's done such a great job on repairs on the car, I cannot believe that he really wasn't trained to do it... he's saved us a ton of money, and he's acquiring skills to pass on to our kids. What a great guy! :)

Fun at home

Here are some random pics of us goofing off at home while we waited for the warm weather. The lining up of the horses is a daily (okay, sometimes 20x a day) occurrence at our house. The top pic is for Kailie and Emma Block, who have matching jammies and Katy wanted to give them a "howdy" from over here in Amishland (pun intended, Caryn!).

The boy likes shoes...

Stephen is currently obsessed with our living room closet, specifically, everyone's shoes. Here he is begging me to open the door to it (see him point? He's saying "up?" which is Stevie language for "open please, Mommy. I want to wreak some havoc on the shoes that Hannah so carefully put in order just an hour ago!" And there he is, perusing the merchandise before making his selection.

Get up and do something!

Here's something that my friend Kim over at Life in a Shoe posted on that is a great way to let our voices be heard...

I'll admit I don't do much on Facebook. I try not to get hooked on the games, causes, groups, etc. But hubby brought this one to my attention and I want to bring it to yours: The Red Letter Campaign.

The idea is simple. Bombard the White House with red envelopes to remind President Obama that the majority of Americans do not support his abortion policy.

You can participate easily, as often as you want. Just send an empty red envelope to the address below. Don't have a red envelope? Make one out of construction paper. Or make 50. Address them to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

I'll make it easy for you. Here's a sheet with that address 24 times. Click on it, print and hand to a kid old enough to handle a pair of scissors.

Seal it and write the following message on the back:

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was not allowed to offer anything to the world.

Life begins with conception.

Stamp it, mail it, and invite others to do the same.

So get to work, everyone!

Bummer...

So, the couple that was going to see our house on Thursday didn't even come- they "fell in love" with the first house they saw, so they didn't try to see ours. At least we know it's all in God's hands... and there's been a lot of activity considering the state of the economy, so we're still hopeful to sell (but not counting on making the March deadline for the farmhouse). There are other possibilities out there, so if things don't work out we will be disappointed but not devastated. I'll post more tomorrow.

Please pray...

We're having another showing tomorrow between 10:30 and 11 am... it would be great to get an offer!!!!
BTW, I have fun pics of the kids enjoying our 65 degree day yesterday, but they're not handy and I need to get back to cleaning, so I'll download them later! Thanks and we love you all!!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY (February 9, 2009)...
Outside my window... it's still dark- and it's getting warmer again- highs in the 50's today and 60's tomorrow are cause for great celebration around here!
I am thinking... that we need to get the bike pump fixed because I know those bikes are coming out today!!!
I am thankful for... the warm weather (can you tell we're excited to have a bit of spring?)! :)
From the learning rooms... science will be all outdoors the next two days, and we are finishing up Tree in the Trail... I think Pagoo is next. We are really enjoying the Holling C. Holling books! Math is going really well still- I'm so thankful for that! We finished Five Children and It and are reading Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. It's great that every time we finish a book we are actually sad to see it end because we have loved all of them!
From the kitchen... blueberry smoothies and breakfast cookies, leftover pasta carbonara for lunch, and something easy for dinner- sandwiches, maybe? I want us to enjoy every minute outside that we can!
I am wearing... my jean skirt with my gym shoes (stylish, aren't I?) and a sweater over a long sleeve pink tee shirt. I am planning on running around with the kids all day, so what can I say? :)
I am creating... a new skirt for spring/summer- and if it goes well, 4 more! I found a really easy tutorial online that only takes about an hour per skirt. I'm halfway through with this one, and it took me 25 minutes! Woo hoo!
I am going... to the fabric store today to get some specialty fabric that our fabric area in Wal-mart doesn't carry.
I am reading... The Bible and listening to the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (thanks to Librivox!) and also listening to a collection of Longfellow's from Librivox. I'm telling you, I absolutely love them for doing this project!
I am hoping... that just the right person makes an appointment to see our home soon! But, I know that is in God's hands, so I am content to wait and see what happens. Either way, let Him be glorified!
I am hearing... the birds starting to chirp- they know spring is coming, too!
Around the house... I have everything straightened up from having the flu all last week. That's a huge relief! It's just exhausting to keep everything picked up at every minute of the day just in case we get a last minute showing (we already had that happen once- it was crazy!).
One of my favorite things... Supermom vitamins. Where would I be without them (shudder!)?
A few plans for the rest of the week: we're doing any outside work that needs done today ( a little lattice work under the deck needs replacing, and I'm going to try to get things tidy). We have a busy week of meetings and getting caught up on school, so I don't think we'll be doing much else besides that!
Here is picture thought I am sharing... 2 years ago at this time!

See more Daybooks at Peggy's site... http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Liam's birthday!

Here are the long awaited pics from the great pirate birthday party...
Stephanie had planned out a treasure hunt for the kids, they painted treasure chests, and of course- played tickle monster with the uncles! :) Thank again for a fun party, Lansing Harlans!!! :)

Nate's early birthday present

I arranged secretly (or so I thought) for Nate and I to go out to eat at an Italian restaurant up in Goshen on Friday with 2 couples that we have been friends with since college... and Hannah B. was going to babysit the kiddos at her house (they had so much fun!). Well, Nate knew something was up, so he wasn't too surprised when the LeVans and the Grabers showed up- he can read me too well! That's only fair, I suppose- because I can tell when he's trying to sneak something by me, too! :)
I was also going to be all cool like my friend Christin and get shots of everyone together, and the food and whatnot- but I was enjoying everything so much I completely forgot! So, Nate and I took this pic on the way home at the gas station where we stopped to get gas (romantic, huh?). :)
Nate really enjoyed the evening out and keeps saying that we have to do that more often. I'm all for that, Natie! :)

Quick update

Hi! We've been sick with the stomach flu... nastiness everywhere and now I'm in the cleanup stage. We've shown the house 2 times so far (last week), went up to Lansing (had fun and pics to follow), been to some parties and meetings and more to come. In fact, we've got nonstop meetings the rest of the week, and I'm taking Nate out for his birthday on Friday! There, now you know where we've been and what we've been doing. Hopefully I'll have more time on Sunday for posting more! God bless you!