Marie dug into her last unexplored Christmas present today. She unearthed 11 jewels. 
Without ever leaving home.
SHE is a jewel.
Wild Wings and Bird Song Trail 2015
I’m not one for field trips. They interrupt the school day.
I’m especially not one for outdoor field trips in the winter. They are outdoors
I’m especially not one for outdoor field trips in the winter. They are outdoors
But – as this one was one we hadn’t done in four years, and the day was already being interrupted for a WCC for Katriel, I decided I’d take the three older girls to this one. I do like raptors and we’d just read the book, Poppy, by Avi.
I’d wondered if I should take Johanna, but she was super-animated and enjoyed herself tremendously.
Marie and Tab got to dissect owl pellets.
While the girls looked for what the owls had had for lunch, Hanny played with giant plastic bugs…
I wanted nothing more than to leave once we were done. But we’d come with sunflower seeds, and 16 inches of snow was not about to deter my daughters. Even the one whose legs are only a little more than 16 inches!
Before we even had gotten ready to feed the birds they started zooming at us. As Tab simply POINTED to something a bird dove toward her hand. We were all delighted and excited.
It was COLD. While I was never fast enough to grab a great picture of a bird in Marie’s hand, she was very good at standing still and they visited her often.
Sweet Johanna stood as still as she could, but as birds landed on her hand, she often startled and dropped her seed to the ground…
After we’d been out a bit, I asked her if her hand was cold. She gushed, “YES!” so we put her mittens back on.
After we’d been out a bit, I asked her if her hand was cold. She gushed, “YES!” so we put her mittens back on.
That seemed to do the trick.
Cardinals joined in the fun.
Tab had her share of birds, as well.
Matthew 6:25-26 <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23308A" data-link="(A)”>“Therefore I tell you, <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23308B" data-link="(B)”>do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-23309D" data-link="(D)”>Are you not of more value than they?
Tab’s phone
Superbowl Sunday 2015
Although I spent more time texting Tara than actually watching the television, it was a great game of football.
The food was quite entertaining. As we don’t watch any commercials, there wasn’t that element of must-see-TV.
Near the end, when it got all crazy, I actually did some shouting and climbed to the back of my seat.
Tabitha said, “Look, Mom’s a kid again.”
The kids were disappointed with the outcome and doggedly climbed the stairs. I offered them a Deep Thought I first had as a young person: “I used to get sad when my team didn’t win a game, or a celebrity didn’t win an award, but then I thought of something. I would ask myself ‘Is my life was any different because of the outcome.’ Pause. ‘Nope!’ And I went on with my life.”
I’m so compassionate, aren’t I?
baby’s big boo-boo
I saw it unfold before my eyes and couldn’t do anything to stop it
running after Hanny, Katriel tripped and started to go down
just inches ahead of where I could reach and falling far faster than my legs could cover the distance down she went
and before her head ever hit the wall I knew –just knew- she was too close
her head hit the corner and snapped back, me encircling her mid section as she went down
I scooper her up, with her still facing out from me, and I backed up, opened the freezer and grabbed a handful of ice – calling for my big kids
she didn’t cry but struggled to catch her breath in the shock – I was afraid to look. I’d seen what a corner of the cabinet did to Marie’s head once
as the boys arrived just seconds after the impact I commanded them to look for me. I just couldn’t. I pulled the ice away and they both recoiled. They quickly found their voices and said, “It’s not bleeding.”
THANK YOU GOD.
it’s amazing how fast our minds work. I was already trying to figure out how I’d get her to urgent care and wondering how they’d stitch her head
she started to cry and protest the ice – the shock having worn off some. Nigel held her arms down as I maintained the ice.
siblings sang to her and I wondered for the umpteenth time if I have what it takes to be a mom and Praised God for His protection
When I finally gave up on icing…
The point of impact…
Later that evening…
Three days later…
Johanna’s art work
Once bitten, twice blessed.
Marie needed a tooth extraction for some time. After a false start with a whack-a-doo dentist back in December, and an accidentally missed appointment in early January, we finally met our new dentist, and she had these teeth extracted.
It was a difficult extraction. But God’s hand was in this situation so clearly. Although our first dentist had gone absolutely bonkers on us, and we left his office in shock and dismay, we can now see that the whole strange and ugly situation was for GOOD. This new dentist is a born-again Christian. He shared his testimony with me, no less! He and his assistant were so loving and gentle. Marie had a hard time with the procedure. But as we drove home and as she retold the story to friends and family, she kept saying that the doctor and helper were, “so kind.”
Do you see the size of those things?
Yowsers.
Ducky’s first haircut
Okay – truth be told I took some scissors to Katriel’s hair once or twice in the fall. But as I was preparing to have her photos taken for her second upcoming second birthday, I went ahead and took her in to have her hair cut properly. Thankfully, our friend Maggie is a stylist in a salon close by and I knew just where we’d go.
When we got there, Katriel had oodles of attention from two of Maggie’s co-workers as we waited for Maggie to finish with a customer. Properly warmed up, we head over to Maggie’s station for the big event.
Stewart cracks up at how stiff-legged she was. Although very out-going with her siblings, she really doesn’t get out much, and I often forget to imagine things from her point of view. She didn’t fuss, but for sure she had no idea what was going on.
The first thing to go was a little curly pig-tail-thingy she’d been growing since birth. *sigh*
I think she looks a little uncomfortable. Stewart thinks her mind is on other things, like, “I wonder what is for lunch tomorrow.”
When all was done, Maggie’s friend put this pouf in her hair and Maggie gave her a certificate. Pretty fancy stuff for number 6!
Princess Marie
YUM!
Dayspring Disciples 
