Life in Pictures~5/31/10

We've been enjoying a long weekend with Mountain Man, celebrating Reaches Up's 8th birthday, and replacing the roof on our shed.  It's hard to believe tomorrow is already Tuesday!  Here are some pictures from the past several days.

~Boo already providing free piano lessons to her youngest sibling even though she has no idea how to play herself

~Claire passes the kindness on, showing Little Big Man another way to play his guitar

~It's not an unusual scene in our home, but it brings me joy every time I walk in a room and find everyone in his own spot with a book

~Our poor shed has been in need of a re-do for quite awhile.  The guys started with the roof, which ended up taking Saturday and today to complete.

~They finished the roof today, and the next step will be painting the wood a green that we're hoping to use on the house.  I'm not seeing how that will happen before Sweet Baby Boy arrives, but at least we don't have to worry about leaks in the roof now.  The older boys did such a great job on the roof, and it was a wonderful learning experience.

~Reaches Up woke up Saturday so excited to be 8!

~He was the first one up of the children and started the day with his Bible reading.

~He then enjoyed a cup 'o joe with Daddy, and they headed off to get the roofing supplies.  Reaches Up was such a trooper all day long.  With Baby's arrival just around the corner, we're having to tackle the projects we can when we can.  So, much of the day was spent taking care of the roof.  But, I think Reaches Up's greatest gifts were the rides to town with Daddy (yes, they had to go back again.)  We didn't even get to dinner until around 9:00. 

~The birthday dinner request was for steak fingers, french fries, corn on the cob, and homemade crescent rolls. 

One of his big gifts is still on the way, but he opened a few that evening.  As I'm typing, Mountain Man and Reaches Up just finished setting up his Venus Fly Trap. 

~Sweet sisters made lovely birthday signs, including this one by Whistler.

~By this time it was after 11:00, and Reaches Up graciously settled for a bowl of ice cream on fire...:)  Mommy will be making his skillet chocolate chip cookie this week.

Praises......We have so much to be thankful for!

~Rain was expected much of the weekend, but God blessed us with perfect weather for getting the roof fixed.  He kept everyone safe, too. :)

~Little Big Man played his guitar at church for the prelude and offertory and did a great job!  We're especially thankful for his willingness to play.

~How blessed we are to be Reaches Up's parents and celebrate eight years with him.

~We enjoyed an evening of dinner and games and laughter with good friends this past Sunday.

Just two weeks from Wednesday is the expected arrival of Sweet Baby Boy, so posting will be a bit sparse until then. 

Love,

The Traveling Beauty Shop

Dear Caity, the sweet one who made me the apron for my birthday, is also a talented hair designer. :)  She graciously traveled to our home today and whacked off shaped up the girls' hair styles.  This was Little Bit's first haircut, as you can tell by the "before" picture.   She and cute Boo got hair cuts since the ends are so thin, and Miss Whistler just got a trim.  Ah, the adventures of having fine hair.


Little Bit, amazingly, enjoyed the entire experience.  No crying.  No escape attempts.  Just pure grins and complete patience.  I guess it's because she simply adores her hairdresser.

~Yes, here's the before, left untouched from the moment she got out of bed.  We were going for the dramatic "after" of course!

I wish I looked so cute first thing in the morning.

~Ta-Da!  Here's the pretty "after." 

~Little Boo was next.  She couldn't wait for the transformation.

~Bye, bye thin ends.

~She's been tossing her hair in the wind the rest of the day.  "I love my hair," she says.  May she never have a bad hair day again. :)

~Miss Whistler has gotten past the thin ends stage, so we were able to just go with a trim.

~Beautiful!

Thank you, Caity! You have three very happy clients. :)

Birthday Treasures

Family and friends have made this past birthday so lovely.  When Mountain Man and I arrived home that day, we were blessed  (and I was tearful) to receive such a sweet welcome.

~The children had a clean house, smiling faces, birthday cards waiting, confetti filling the air, and the absolutely BEST birthday sign EVER!

~Isn't this priceless?  Good 'ol Scribe took the time to get these sweet hands messy in order to produce such a masterpiece.   I'm so thankful!

~Scribe and Little Big Man gave me this WONDERFUL book called Meet the Puritans.  I absolutely LOVE it, though perhaps my dear family is already getting a bit weary of my saying, "Did you know that ...."

~The only downside to this gift.....it's already causing me to add more books to my Most Wanted list. :)  Truly, if you're interested in reading Puritan writings, and I say that you really should be, this book is an amazing resource.

I LOVE encouraging words, and I received so many in the thoughtful cards from my Mom and sisters and dear friends.  Some even had Barnes and Noble gift certificates tucked inside.  Hmm, me in a bookstore?  Would I even know what to do?

~I was also blessed with a creation I've been coveting for awhile now.  When Miss Caity first revealed her beautiful apron design on her blog and said she was making some as surprises for friends, I was really wishing I could be one of those friends. :)  Wonder of wonders.....she made me this apron that I can even wear now with my almost-ready-to-be-delivered belly. :)

~No, Nicole, you can't have this!

~Mountain Man and I decided it would be a treat for us all to have a picnic in the park.  So we got some fried chicken, of course, and headed out.

There was football playing as well as a bit of dragging across the lawn....playing on the swings and slides...and time enjoying that stuff called grass.  Claire was quite amazed at the feel of the green prickles on her legs.

~Mountain Man thought he'd get an early start on Claire's football practice

~A most memorable birthday with one of God's greatest gifts to me....my amazing family.

Love,

Birthday Rendezvous

No, we haven't abandoned the blog, as my dear Mom inquired of me. :) My Beloved whisked me away for a birthday rendezvous the weekend before last, and I returned with a computer allergy. I simply haven't wanted to come near this such-a-blessing-but-can-be-so-time-consuming piece of technology.

Mountain Man and I had a wonderful weekend away and plenty of time to just enjoy this gift of a marriage God has blessed us with.

~Here's the front of the place where we stayed...ours is the door to the left.

~there was a nice welcome basket waiting in the kitchen

~here's the living area

~the cute breakfast nook

~the full kitchen

~these are the great windows in the breakfast area as well as the screened door that leads to a small balcony

~of course, I focused on the details and loved the lace curtains that adorned all of the smaller windows

~It truly was a wonderful weekend, and we came home on my birthday to a house full of blessings, all of us so glad to see each other.  Our children were amazing, and they gave me a sweet birthday welcome.  I'll post about my birthday blessings tomorrow.

All is going well with the pregnancy...only a tad over three weeks to go.  We have just three weeks of school left for this year, and we're busy tackling projects so we can just enjoy Sweet Baby Boy when he arrives.  We continue to ask for prayers for a smooth delivery and healthy lungs for Baby Boy.

Love,