Hold My Hand

Brooke's new favorite phrase is "Hold my hand." It's not quite a question, more of a demand. She wants my guidance and reassurance if she's the slightest bit unsure about a situation.

She said it to me tonight and something clicked inside me - I need the Lord to hold my hand. Its not a request, its a requirement. There are things that I just can't handle on my own.  In fact, I need to just expect Him to hold my hand in everything, because He promises to do exactly that. Why in the world do I always get caught up and lost in this crazy stressed out everyday life and He is the one I turn to after I've exhausted every other option? After I've toiled and stressed and worked to do things on my own, I could have just held His hand and He would have sustained me and guided me all along.

What a wonderful reminder - at a perfect time of absolute craziness, I'm just going to say "LORD, HOLD MY HAND! Lead me where you want to take me....I trust you more than I trust myself"

I have no idea what this season of life will bring about, but you've never let me down and you've always been faithful. 

Life has been a whirlwind lately, pretty good stuff, just crazy and a bit stressful....here are some fantastic pictures from the last month:

Totaled our truck, and got another:

Found a bat on my head one morning, killed it, tested it for rabies - negative, thank God!

Had a double birthday party for Brooke's 2nd and Lexi's 4th - it got rained out when we planned it in the barn, but it was great fun inside anyway!

Played outside with the girls a lot - between the trampoline, slip n slide, pool, swing set, and other stuff, they never want to come in!

This pretty much sums up the whirlwind month...ha ha:

Had a wedding for my cousin at our camp, Lexi was flower girl, Dad officiated:

Had fun with my sisters!

And my husband :)

Off to Chicago in a few days! LORD HOLD MY HAND!

Hold My Hand

Brooke's new favorite phrase is "Hold my hand." It's not quite a question, more of a demand. She wants my guidance and reassurance if she's the slightest bit unsure about a situation.

She said it to me tonight and something clicked inside me - I need the Lord to hold my hand. Its not a request, its a requirement. There are things that I just can't handle on my own.  In fact, I need to just expect Him to hold my hand in everything, because He promises to do exactly that. Why in the world do I always get caught up and lost in this crazy stressed out everyday life and He is the one I turn to after I've exhausted every other option? After I've toiled and stressed and worked to do things on my own, I could have just held His hand and He would have sustained me and guided me all along.

What a wonderful reminder - at a perfect time of absolute craziness, I'm just going to say "LORD, HOLD MY HAND! Lead me where you want to take me....I trust you more than I trust myself"

I have no idea what this season of life will bring about, but you've never let me down and you've always been faithful. 

Life has been a whirlwind lately, pretty good stuff, just crazy and a bit stressful....here are some fantastic pictures from the last month:

Totaled our truck, and got another:

Found a bat on my head one morning, killed it, tested it for rabies - negative, thank God!

Had a double birthday party for Brooke's 2nd and Lexi's 4th - it got rained out when we planned it in the barn, but it was great fun inside anyway!

Played outside with the girls a lot - between the trampoline, slip n slide, pool, swing set, and other stuff, they never want to come in!

This pretty much sums up the whirlwind month...ha ha:

Had a wedding for my cousin at our camp, Lexi was flower girl, Dad officiated:

Had fun with my sisters!

And my husband :)

Off to Chicago in a few days! LORD HOLD MY HAND!

A few pictures, a few words

I have exciting news!  Our sweet little niece Pennie is now walking!  Kassandra posted a video at 6:30 on 6/30 of her walking, it was so sweet.  And she's only 10 months old GO PENNIE!!!!  Brooke is starting to communicate in sentences and Lexi is reading and spelling...she's on lesson 70 out of 100 in her reading lessons.  I have to recommend "Teach you child to read in 100 easy lessons", except that its not easy for the mom.  It's been fairly "easy" for Lexi I guess, but not me.  I can't wait until we're done - we both keep putting it off.  It really works though, so if you have the gift of teaching I'm sure it will be easy!  I dont have the gift of teaching as I've recently realized- or patience, but that's a fruit of the spirit, so I guess that's my fault ;).  Lexi seems to be catching on so thank God for that!
She is doing very well and shocked me by writing and spelling Lexi Loo Loo the other day by sounding it out:

Here are some rainbows after last week's rainstorms.  We had seen so many rainbows since we've moved here - I LOVE THEM!

Here is a picture of Brooke napping with Daddy - they both sleep more peacefully when they fall asleep together on the couch:

Lexi & Brooke watching a Leap Frog DVD - I think Brooke has a lazy eye (both sides = a miracle Lexi doesn't have it) and you can see it pretty well here.  We'll find out next week after her 2 year check up....looks like a surgery may be in the future :( poor baby!

Lexi and I cooked Strawberry Pancakes yesterday for breakfast - she was pretty happy about it!

I found Elmo in an open casket on the coffee table.....were they having a wake?  Ever since Lexi has learned about heaven, she's been kind of morbid.  Should I not make it seem quite so enticing? It kind of freaks me out haha.....

Lots going on this weekend - more pics to follow soon!

A few pictures, a few words

I have exciting news!  Our sweet little niece Pennie is now walking!  Kassandra posted a video at 6:30 on 6/30 of her walking, it was so sweet.  And she's only 10 months old GO PENNIE!!!!  Brooke is starting to communicate in sentences and Lexi is reading and spelling...she's on lesson 70 out of 100 in her reading lessons.  I have to recommend "Teach you child to read in 100 easy lessons", except that its not easy for the mom.  It's been fairly "easy" for Lexi I guess, but not me.  I can't wait until we're done - we both keep putting it off.  It really works though, so if you have the gift of teaching I'm sure it will be easy!  I dont have the gift of teaching as I've recently realized- or patience, but that's a fruit of the spirit, so I guess that's my fault ;).  Lexi seems to be catching on so thank God for that!
She is doing very well and shocked me by writing and spelling Lexi Loo Loo the other day by sounding it out:

Here are some rainbows after last week's rainstorms.  We had seen so many rainbows since we've moved here - I LOVE THEM!

Here is a picture of Brooke napping with Daddy - they both sleep more peacefully when they fall asleep together on the couch:

Lexi & Brooke watching a Leap Frog DVD - I think Brooke has a lazy eye (both sides = a miracle Lexi doesn't have it) and you can see it pretty well here.  We'll find out next week after her 2 year check up....looks like a surgery may be in the future :( poor baby!

Lexi and I cooked Strawberry Pancakes yesterday for breakfast - she was pretty happy about it!

I found Elmo in an open casket on the coffee table.....were they having a wake?  Ever since Lexi has learned about heaven, she's been kind of morbid.  Should I not make it seem quite so enticing? It kind of freaks me out haha.....

Lots going on this weekend - more pics to follow soon!

Long time no blogging!

It's 6:00 in the morning and I've just realized that I haven't blogged in almost a month.  I guess its just been so busy and I haven't really had much to say.  Facebook is much easier to do updates on now since I have the Droid phone... it's been a huge time saver for emails and all that and the apps are awesome - I HIGHLY recommend it!  Let's see, work is going great and I'm really glad how the timing worked out with that.  I don't feel so bored, and when I come home now I can actually have fun and relax and not think of my home as "work".  I had a hard time not turning off my work mode when I was at home all the time.
God has made this a smooth transition for Weve and I and the girls - they get a lot more interaction with people, Weve and I get more time together, and they have special daddy time too!
We have lots of exciting events coming up this summer, Amy's wedding, Ty's wedding, Alisa's wedding, graduation parties galore, fairs & festivals, camp weekends, I love summer - I wish it was 8 months long!
We have been trying to head to Idlewild a lot and the girls love it!

Lexi has entered a new phase of thinking she's too cool.  All in one week she's reading stories in her reading lesson without much sounding out, allowed to chew gum now since she keeps it in for a long time, and is tall enough to ride the roller coasters and big rides.  She thinks she is the cat's meow and has been talking (and acting) like a valley girl.  We have had numerous conversations this week about pride, cocky attitudes, entitlement, and how unattractive and yucky they make you seem!  Its hard to explain humility to a little girl with her outgoing personality, but we're trying.  It's a fine line between encouraging her self esteem and confidence without allowing her head to get too big.

Brooke is talking up a storm, which is so weird!  It cracks me up to hear little toddlers talking in their little voices saying "where's daddy going?" "what's Lexi doing?" "why" "why" "why"?  It seems like she was born yesterday but she'll be 2 in a few weeks!

The Lord has been so gracious to many of our family members who have had numerous health scares arise.  He Reigns and He is Awesome and I'm coming into a period of my life where I'm really starting to delight in Him and have a lot more joy and a lot less legalism.  I struggled with being super uptight about some things and rather than loving and forgiving and being gracious I started to judge -- not just others, but mainly myself. He wants us to glorify Him and enjoy Him and be a light, not a downer to those around us! You attract more bees with honey than vinegar (or however that saying goes - its true!) I hope and pray that I do that and that I seek Him and love others more than myself.  Hard to do huh?

Here are a few pictures of the girls - I took it outside by the "bee tree" in our front yard.  They have a little bench there they like it sit on.

Long time no blogging!

It's 6:00 in the morning and I've just realized that I haven't blogged in almost a month.  I guess its just been so busy and I haven't really had much to say.  Facebook is much easier to do updates on now since I have the Droid phone... it's been a huge time saver for emails and all that and the apps are awesome - I HIGHLY recommend it!  Let's see, work is going great and I'm really glad how the timing worked out with that.  I don't feel so bored, and when I come home now I can actually have fun and relax and not think of my home as "work".  I had a hard time not turning off my work mode when I was at home all the time.
God has made this a smooth transition for Weve and I and the girls - they get a lot more interaction with people, Weve and I get more time together, and they have special daddy time too!
We have lots of exciting events coming up this summer, Amy's wedding, Ty's wedding, Alisa's wedding, graduation parties galore, fairs & festivals, camp weekends, I love summer - I wish it was 8 months long!
We have been trying to head to Idlewild a lot and the girls love it!

Lexi has entered a new phase of thinking she's too cool.  All in one week she's reading stories in her reading lesson without much sounding out, allowed to chew gum now since she keeps it in for a long time, and is tall enough to ride the roller coasters and big rides.  She thinks she is the cat's meow and has been talking (and acting) like a valley girl.  We have had numerous conversations this week about pride, cocky attitudes, entitlement, and how unattractive and yucky they make you seem!  Its hard to explain humility to a little girl with her outgoing personality, but we're trying.  It's a fine line between encouraging her self esteem and confidence without allowing her head to get too big.

Brooke is talking up a storm, which is so weird!  It cracks me up to hear little toddlers talking in their little voices saying "where's daddy going?" "what's Lexi doing?" "why" "why" "why"?  It seems like she was born yesterday but she'll be 2 in a few weeks!

The Lord has been so gracious to many of our family members who have had numerous health scares arise.  He Reigns and He is Awesome and I'm coming into a period of my life where I'm really starting to delight in Him and have a lot more joy and a lot less legalism.  I struggled with being super uptight about some things and rather than loving and forgiving and being gracious I started to judge -- not just others, but mainly myself. He wants us to glorify Him and enjoy Him and be a light, not a downer to those around us! You attract more bees with honey than vinegar (or however that saying goes - its true!) I hope and pray that I do that and that I seek Him and love others more than myself.  Hard to do huh?

Here are a few pictures of the girls - I took it outside by the "bee tree" in our front yard.  They have a little bench there they like it sit on.

Watermelon & Fireflies

I'm so excited!  Aunt Ruthie of Sugar Pie Farmhouse (hey sounds like my blog title Sweet Life at the Farmhouse!) just came out with a new e-book called Watermelon & Fireflies.  It looks fantastic and I can't wait to read it.  Lexi will be happy that I will have a new cookbook. Head on over there to check it out - could it get any cuter?
Look at her house too - oh my word!!!!!
Sugar Pie Farmhouse

I am happy to say I actually made whole wheat banana pancakes from scratch this morning and they loved them!  Yes, I used a recipe - Lexi approved.  Thank goodness I had instructions. :)

Watermelon & Fireflies

I'm so excited!  Aunt Ruthie of Sugar Pie Farmhouse (hey sounds like my blog title Sweet Life at the Farmhouse!) just came out with a new e-book called Watermelon & Fireflies.  It looks fantastic and I can't wait to read it.  Lexi will be happy that I will have a new cookbook. Head on over there to check it out - could it get any cuter?
Look at her house too - oh my word!!!!!
Sugar Pie Farmhouse

I am happy to say I actually made whole wheat banana pancakes from scratch this morning and they loved them!  Yes, I used a recipe - Lexi approved.  Thank goodness I had instructions. :)

Back to work and loving it!

This Wednesday was my first day back to work and I'm having a blast!  It's really nice to have that time again to work and have the camaraderie amongst my co-workers.  The people I'm working with are really cool and fun and its refreshing to have some adult conversation.  Lexi & Brooke spent the day with Weve and then the next day we went to Idlewild.  Friday was GiGi Fran day and she came and played with them until Weve got home.  They LOVED that time too and keep talking about GiGi Fran.  Next week is their first day at Genesis preschool on Thursday.  I'm using that day to work from home if need be, clean the house, maybe have some time to myself to catch a movie / mani-pedi or late lunch with Weve after he gets home from work.  I'm SOOO glad its been warm so early this year.  It was cold and rainy all last summer and that weather non-stop is kind of miserable.  Grafton had a heart attack on Thursday, but Praise God is doing much better and will be coming home soon!  I'm so relieved to hear that.  I don't want the Lord taking him home yet!
Alisa & Wayne came over last night and hung out for awhile - they are so much fun!  They're considering having their wedding in our back barn and we were brainstorming how to do it and the logistics of it.  First we  need to see if we're allowed, if its feasible and then get going.  I hope so, I'd LOVE to have a wedding out there!  Here are some pics of the girls at Idlewild:

Back to work and loving it!

This Wednesday was my first day back to work and I'm having a blast!  It's really nice to have that time again to work and have the camaraderie amongst my co-workers.  The people I'm working with are really cool and fun and its refreshing to have some adult conversation.  Lexi & Brooke spent the day with Weve and then the next day we went to Idlewild.  Friday was GiGi Fran day and she came and played with them until Weve got home.  They LOVED that time too and keep talking about GiGi Fran.  Next week is their first day at Genesis preschool on Thursday.  I'm using that day to work from home if need be, clean the house, maybe have some time to myself to catch a movie / mani-pedi or late lunch with Weve after he gets home from work.  I'm SOOO glad its been warm so early this year.  It was cold and rainy all last summer and that weather non-stop is kind of miserable.  Grafton had a heart attack on Thursday, but Praise God is doing much better and will be coming home soon!  I'm so relieved to hear that.  I don't want the Lord taking him home yet!
Alisa & Wayne came over last night and hung out for awhile - they are so much fun!  They're considering having their wedding in our back barn and we were brainstorming how to do it and the logistics of it.  First we  need to see if we're allowed, if its feasible and then get going.  I hope so, I'd LOVE to have a wedding out there!  Here are some pics of the girls at Idlewild: