Big Brother

October 12, 2017 | Stacy

They don’t see him as much as they’d like to, but thankfully Stewart still finds time to mess around with his little sisters.

I’m so grateful for the connections they all have.

A few weeks ago, as we were commenting on how much he is gone these days, Stewart said something like, “Can you imagine if I had been in school all these years? I’d, like, barely know these guys.”

Amen, buddy. That makes it worth every tough school day, in my heart.

Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

What to wear?

October 8, 2017 | Stacy

The girls’ closet it a treasure trove of beautiful garments. It is a treat to dress them as the LORD has seen fit to fill their closet to bursting with hand-me-downs.

This lovely morning, they asked Daddy if they could wear these outfits and presented themselves to Mama for her stamp of approval. I deemed them gorgeous, but pointed out that they would need to wear stockings with these selections. Neither of them are a fan of stockings, but Katriel had a thought:
”Johanna? Do you want to wear stockings and you can be Mrs. Claus and I can be an elf?”

Johanna opted to squeeze in another warm-weather dress, as we are enjoying higher than normal temps this October.

Matthew 6:28-30
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Her turn

September 21, 2017 | Stacy

Katriel has been showing signs that she is ready to take reading by storm.
Her friend, Rumor Weed, is helping.

I can’t wait until the day she can open the Bible and read it for herself.

Psalm 115:14
May the Lord give you increase, you and your children!

Super talent

September 16, 2017 | Stacy

Apparently,my daughter is so creative she colors in her sleep.

(Notice Stewart’s kitty.)

Psalm 104:24
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Superhero Princesses

September 11, 2017 | Stacy

The best of both worlds: defend the universe and look good for tea.

The babysitter

September 6, 2017 | Stacy

Stewart is going to FLCC full time this semester for his senior year of high school. As he left this morning, he made a mention to Katriel to watch his old Maow-kitty for him.

She agreed to do it. She carried her around all day and was very loving toward her.

A few hours later, I asked her if she wanted to run some errands with me. Her eyes lit up, then she looked somewhat concerned. Reading her thoughts, I added, “Maow can come with us.” She relaxed, beamed and hurried to get her shoes.

Luke 16:10
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much

Garden Gang

September 4, 2017 | Stacy

John had the girls help him reap some of the garden’s harvest today.

It isn’t producing as much as other years. We blame a few different pieces.

Katriel LOVES tomatoes!

Genesis 8:22
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease

Seabreeze, 2017

August 30, 2017 | Stacy

Once upon a time “summer” equaled “Seabreeze” for these disciples. How is it, then, that our family hasn’t been there in a few YEARS and the littlest Butler has no memory of it?

I think it’s a combination of having a pool, having bigger kids getting busier, having the prices more than double from the first year we bought them, and having the big kids get a little TOO familiar with the place.

My work made tickets available for $13 pp for up to six people. A co-worker helped me secure three additional tickets. I got the tickets back in June and we proceeded to sit on them foReVEr!

FLCC classes and Toronto weekend made June a poor time to visit.
Costa Rica and VBS and Prince Edward Island wiped out most usable dates in July.
August found work schedules and camping ruling out most days.

So in the waning week of summer we found a day we could visit. And it was chilly!
To be fair, summer never showed up this year. Oh. It phoned it in a few days, but it never stopped in to stay. Overnight temps were cool for most of August, and the water at Seabreeze reflected this.

BRRRRRRR.

We didn’t spend long in the waterpark. We had some lunch around 12:30 and headed for dry rides. While once upon a time my big kids would have front row seats for the acrobat shows (we’d watch more than one a day), we only paused on our way through to watch them today.

The big four visited a lot of rides on their own, although I did skulk around admiring them from afar time to time.

Hanny got her first ride on the Jack Rabbit.

I can’t know if it was the cool weather or the lateness in the season that made the crowds small. In either case, it benefitted us tremendously as we owned the park.

Nan snapped some photos of the big kids.

And one of the rest of us.

My how we’ve all changed.

We were surprised when at 4:30 P.M. we were pretty much done with all the rides! They’d done each one multiple times and it didn’t make sense just to stay to order a pizza. As John had met us there, he took one van to BJs for some frozen pizza and honey BBQ wings, and I took the other van to Walmart to pick out a bunch of ice creams.

Home for dinner and dessert and the official last day of Butler-summerness-fun.

Ok, school year – here we are.

“I’m a rumor weed.”

August 16, 2017 | Stacy

Somehow, the little girls had never embraced the wonders of Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed until this past week or so. While it has always been on the movie shelf, for whatever reason it remained undiscovered.

Let’s just say it went over big. Very big! In her tremendous enthusiasm, Katriel decided since Mama hadn’t watched it with them, she would share the story with me. So she did. In careful detail she retold the story to me, complete with sound effects and dance moves. She fed me the lines so that I could reenact her favorite parts of the story. I enjoyed hearing her narration to the core of my being. Now, I probably first enjoyed Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed in 2003. Imagine her joy and surprise when I was able to join her in a rousing chorus of the Rumor Weed’s song!

That was a few days ago. Since then, she has carried, “Weedy” pretty much everywhere and today I asked if I could take a picture. For reasons known only to her, she felt these faces best such a shot.