The children up close

Here are just a few pictures of the children doing what they do.

The boys trying on their new sunglasses for our vacation. Benaiah is very intrigued by them.

They didn't even take the time to take the tags off.

The girls practicing their singing and dancing.

And last but certainly not least, Benaiah, after he spent some time playing in the garden. Not sure how much playing got done, but sure looks like some eating got done. And nobody knows where he got that red spot on his head. Never heard him cry, and we were all busy outside, so who knows what happened. He is a boy, and I'm sure the scrapes will only get worse as he gets older. Increase prayer. : )

A date with my boy!

Last week, Josiah said to me, "When can I take you on a mommy/son date? I think I have enough money now." So, we decided that after Jonathon got home, we would head out to the corn maze in Sturgis. He had a certificate for Subway, and that's where he wanted to take me to eat. As the corn maze was on our way to town, we stopped there first, thinking it wouldn't take long, and then we could go get lunch. We started the maze and had no idea how big or how long it would take.
With a paper about the Wild West and a pencil in hand, we set out to find our clues, stamps, and learn about the great west.

Our first stop filling out the paper we got. Corn stalks made for good camera stands but made them a little tipped. : )

Off we go, for a long walk!

There was even a bridge in the maze, which is where the camera was for this one. One of the corn cops took our picture. I was hoping for one from where he was standing, which was up pretty high, but he zoomed in on us. It turned out good anyways!

Because of the sun shining so brightly, we followed our shadows, or they followed us, most of the time. So, we decided we would strike a poes, with our flag (in case we got lost in the maze) raised high.

The map of the maze. It was amazing!

We got to this spot, almost the end (after needing help from the corn cops just once), and I could see the flag blowing in the wind. Yes, we made it!

When we went into the maze, two high school boys and a man were coming out, and one of the boys yelled, "We made it out!!!!!" So, when we got to the end, Josiah said, "Do you think we should yell that we made it out?" I chuckled, and we walked hand in hand to the tent to return our flag and pencil.

So, after walking (sometimes in circles) for 2 hours, we finally made it out. Boy, were we glad since we were both quite hungry. Got back to the van and then went to have some Subway. He even bought my sub. With a little money left over, he thought that he had to give way too much of his money to pay for things. Haha, life lessons learned as he takes his mom on a date. I pray that little boy grows up to become a respectful young man who follows the Lord and some day treats a special lady as great as he treated his momma on this beautiful day!

Some of October at a Glance

My how time flies, and I get behind on this thing. Too bad I'm not caught up in the children's scrapbook. That sounds like a good winter project to me. Haha, I think I said that last winter.

As you can see, Benaiah is growing up, walking, saying a few things, and gets cuter and ornerier by the minute. In the above picture I caught him playing in the cupboard. Not a big deal until I find potatoes and onions all over the floor. Obviously I caught him before he found the food that look like balls. : )

He knows he's been caught.

And that's the ornery face.

He keeps us all in smiles, even during those times that aren't so happy. My Grandma Murphy passed away a couple weeks ago. Life can change so quickly. I am so thankful for the pictures that we were able to take earlier in the year with my grandparents. What a blessing to have those now. The time of the viewing and funeral all went by so quickly. It seems like a moment in time that came and went without much processing really taking place. Yahweh did give us a beautiful sky one evening while the children were out playing and it reminded me that He gives and He takes away, and He continues to spread His sun beams wherever they are needed.

Before we headed out for the viewing of my grandma, we went to a local Farmers Market store and bought some apples to sauce. It seems that we found things to do to keep us busy and our minds off of the loss. We were able to get 15 quarts done, felt good about our accomplishment, and then got ready to head to Coldwater.

My girls were great help with this project!

It was so nice to see all the cars line up in my grandmother's processional. My grandparents have many friends in their car clubs, and some of them showed up in their cars to bid their farewells.

If you want to continue reading, feel free, but no tattling on me for the pictures that I took!!!!

We all went back to Grandpa's after the funeral to visit with family and go through things. As Grandpa sat and read the paper, he had a very interested girl reading over his shoulder. They were both so into what they reading, it was a great moment for a quick picture.

Oh, this is Thelma, my oldest niece.

Last week we took the children along with some friends to Goshen Library to do an Alice in Wonderland tour after we spent the week doing an unit theme in that. It was free, fun, and a nice night out with friends.

The pictures below are from just last night. I went in to check on Benaiah, making sure he was asleep and found him in Josiah's bed. He does love his brother.

Upon covering him up, so he didn't get cold in the night, I heard a strange sound coming from above. So, I stood up and looked at Diella to see this......

and she was snoring. It was priceless! Love that girl!

We have our moments of joy and our moments of grief, but through it all we rest in our Father's hands to get us from one moment to the next. He is faithful to give when we are in need and take away when one is ready to be with HIM. Bless the Lord for HIS unfailing love!

Family Night

Josiah was wanting to go bowling for his birthday, and we just weren't able to make it there. We got a coupon emailed to us the other day for up to 6 people to have one free game of bowling. So, when we decided to have a quiet family night, Jonathon decided we should use that coupon.

Here is Josiah in action.

It was quite challenging with Benaiah. He wanted to do everything but BE STILL.
Alegra found a little cubby and thought he would like it....quite the contrary.

Here is Alegra very happy about her throw.

Diella's ball went so slow that she had time to walk back to the seats and eat a few french fries before the ball hit the pins. It was a little bit torturous as we chased Benaiah around, trying to keep him happy with french fries.

All in all we had a great time bowling our one free game a piece. That was just enough for us all. Let's see, who won?.....Jonathon was the grand champion, Diella came in last, but I was tied and losing to two of the children at one point, so that should tell you that none of us broke any records. : )

The stars were shining so brightly when we left the bowling alley that we thought it would be a great night for walk. When we got home, Benaiah was sleeping, so we put him to bed and hit the trails in our backyard. We bundled up with it getting quite chilly out here in Michigan, grabbed some flashlights and set out to enjoy the starry night. Was a lovely walk enjoyed by all and a perfect way to end our evening!

Josiah's Birthday- #5

Josiah has turned 5! It's amazing how quickly they grow up. The day of the Celebration for Celia was on Josiah's birthday, so I didn't want to focus all my attention on that party and forget about something for him. So, we planned a party at grandma Linda's for after the Celebration. Whoooo, that was a full day! He wanted our good friends, Phil and Casie to join us at his party, and they were nice enough to stretch out their day too and be there for him. Jonathon's brother, Jeff and his family, along with their new exchange student, Jessica joined us also. It was nice to celebrate with everyone Josiah's life. We are blessed to have him for sure!

There was a lot of mingling with Jessica, learning about Switzerland where she is from.

And the children decorated rice krispie faces on a stick for dessert.

I think the birthday boy's turned out the coolest, but then he did have a little help.

Their masterpieces all finished! So cute!

Zeky, Alegra, Josiah, Diella, and Eliyahna. Amalyah and Grandma Linda in the back.

He is so shy and wasn't sure how to act with opening his presents and being the center of attention.

He got some fun gifts and some fun cards too!

He has been nostop playing with his new legos, and hot wheels, and working in his new workbooks. Last night we put the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and walls and he shared with his siblings which was great! Even Benaiah got to put some in his bed. : )

Was a fun evening, a long day, and my bed was a welcome place to rest my head that night.

Celia's Celebration Tea For Two

This weekend we had another wonderful celebration honoring a fabulous lady and her new little girl, Ruth. This Celebration was a Tea For Two and we had tea, cookies, cakes, and a special song with the words of tea for two changed up to fit a new momma.

The treat table with diaper cake as the centerpiece.

The table decorations consisted of a jelly jar with flowers from my gardens, smaller jelly jars with special m&ms and honey dipped spoons.

The guest of honor with her daughter, Shalom admiring all the goodies and excited to be getting her dream of a tea party.

Who wouldn't have smiles with all that deliciousness to choose from. : )

Another angle of the goodies.

Shalom with her honey spoon lollipop.

The great grandma holding baby Ruth.

The grandma holding Shalom after a tiring party.

We also had ladies bring in cookies enough that we could do a cookie exchange. It was fun, encouraging and a blessing for all who attended. I would have liked to have gotten some pictures of some of the tea cups ladies brought. They were to bring their own, and there were some pretty fancy ones. Sooo much fun!!!

A full summer

Well, it seems I wasn't able to load pictures for awhile for some strange reason, but really I didn't have much time for that anyway. We had a garden full of produce that was wonderful to enjoy. The canning for the year didn't go so well as the pressure cooker wasn't working properly, and I ruined several loads of food due to that. I was bummed about all the beans that I lost, but with the help from my little helpers, I was able to get some pasta sauce canned for next year. Thankfully we had way me than we needed canned last year, so that will last us this coming year also.

Here are my helpers carrying in tomatoes. They carried in several loads like this.

I am looking forward to them getting a big enough that they can help cut up the tomatoes. Usually my mom and I do it together and it goes so much faster with that extra set of hands. When they are big enough, I will have some great kitchen help.

Benaiah didn't do much help with the canning, but he does love to climb up on the couch with a library book and sit and turn the pages. Most of the time the book is upside down, but in this picture I caught him looking at it the correct way. : )

The big excitement of the summer was the building of a new loft bed, so that everyone in the house has a bed to sleep in. Josiah was not enjoying the couch so much and my grandparents gave us some wood that their neighbor gave them that was actually used for a loft. So, with some extra wood and a friend pitching in some help to construct another bed, all four children have a soft bed that is their space.

The loft completed and yes, Benaiah does get caught going up to the top every now and then when the children forget to put the ladder up. One night we found him laying on Alegra's belly while she was reading and he was sound asleep. But he does love his little toddler bed too.

And Benaiah is walking now. He loves to be outside walking around and exploring.

Which makes him tuckered out and it isn't anything unusual to find him sound asleep in his bed after crawling up in it on his own. What a joy he is!