How Noah took his nap on Wednesday afternoon

He can sleep anywhere, with any noise level! Here is proof.
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How Noah fell asleep on Monday night

Noah

I had a conversation with Noah on Sunday, 2-12-12, that I wanted to record. I was holding him and started to pretend cry. Noah said in a very concerned voice, "What's wrong, Mommy?" with such a worried look on his little face. I said, (still pretending to cry), "You are going to be 4 in 3weeks!" He patted my back and said, "Don't worry, Mommy, I'll still let you hold me." Aw, such a sweetheart!

Warm winter

I thought I'd record what a warm winter we have been having. Yesterday was a sunny, mixed with clouds, 65* day! Today, mostly cloudy, with wind and still 61*. We have had 3 days with snow so far this winter. It came one day, and was mostly melted by the next day. We had between one and two inches each little snow day. We also had a dusting of snow on Sunday afternoon. That was gone on Monday, and then the warm weather came back. So, I wonder if we will get hit with winter in March and April??! Anyway, good to know the One who is still in control, even in the middle of winter when it seems like a presummer day!
After 4 months of being lost, Hannah found our "good" camera. I am happy to finally be able to post pictures again, and to be able to take pictures of my growing children!
So, I will post a variety of pictures, including our re-decorated bedroom.Large fish!
Oh, I was able to finish the business plan in 2011! Yippee!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's Eve! 2011 is quickly coming to a close. Shawn, myself, Tad and Uncle Bill had a nice visit this morning with Sam, and Shawn and I enjoyed a nice, brisk early afternoon walk. This afternoon I hope to get a lot more accomplished on our business plan, we'll see how that goes! :)
A cute little something to remember at the close of the year for Noah. Every time we get into the car, he always asks me to put on the "Fleeting, flowers are coming down," hymn. That is one of my children's favorite hymns, "Time is fleeting, flowers are falling, life will soon be past." We can see how quickly this year went past, and see the truth behind this hymn. I would like to pause more often and ponder all the blessings I have, and consider where I am going and how I am going about in getting there.

Good ole days

Last week when I went through a stand, I found "real" film. Like, over 20 rolls of film that needed developed! I knew that would be expensive to develop all at once, so I randomly picked 3. I took them to Walmart, and picked them up last week. Would you believe one of the pictures was of a very, very round tummy, with Noah inside!!!! It was taken just days before I had him. Anyway, it was so fun, not knowing what was on the film. I like today's technology, take a picture and view it right away, delete it if you don't like it, and take a new one. But, I sorta miss the surprise of what will that picture turn out like, or in my case, what IS the picture??:)
Guess I'm old fashioned, but isn't it amazing the technology that has come out in the last 10 years??
Happy Holidays to everyone! Another year about finished, and we can only wonder what they will come up with next!

New heights!

Hannah has officially by passed me in the height department, with about an inch on me. That happened last week, literally in one week. She and Josh went through a major growing spell, with Josh popping up an inch and a quarter in two weeks and Hannah just about an inch. I knew something was up when Josh continuously wanted to eat, after 2 or 3 days of this(he normally eats next to nothing), I finally put him against the kitchen wall and marked him off. Two weeks later, the new mark was that much higher, and now finally, he is back to his normal eating. Hannah is now about 5'7". Josh is 4'2 1/2".

Wisconsin and back

Last weekend, we took a "quick" trip to Wisconsin, to spend a day with friends on their dairy farm. We were not there very long, but we did learn a lot while we were there. It took a little over 26 hours with stops to drive there and back, and we stayed 23 hours. We also had the privilege of a gospel mtg on Friday evening. What a special fellowship God's people enjoy, even if they have never met before. We definitely felt at home there, and we are so thankful Marv and Minnie opened there home to us. Thank you Minnie, for letting us come and all the work weekend help brings, and for letting me follow your blog! Thanks to Marv for putting up with 101 questions from me and for letting me "help" him fed the baby calves :). Here is our crew, Dad, my brother Tad, Shawn and me. Then a few pictures of the farm.

Week-end vandals

We had late night vandals visit on Saturday night. At 11:30 p.m., Shawn and I were getting ready for bed when a very loud explosion rocked our house. It woke up all the children, and terrified Noah. He thought a bad guy was coming, then he decided the Indians must be coming. I guess he must have thought of that because of a Thanksgiving virtual field trip we watched a week ago. The Indians were pounding on tom-toms. Anyway, after surveying outside and finding nothing, and listening to the scanner, and not hearing any runs, we decided to go to bed. On our way to meeting on Sunday(it was our rotation to go to Helen's), as we pull down our driveway, I noticed a white piece laying in the middle of the road. I asked Shawn what that was, he replied, "Our mailbox lid, now we know what the explosion was!" The mailbox itself wasn't in the road, it wasn't on its post either. After meeting, we went to Lowe's to purchase another mailbox. After lunch, we went down to find the mailbox. It was across the street, down in Dad's pasture field. Not sure what type of explosion was used, no evidence of that, just the black gun powder residue on parts of the blown apart box, turned mostly inside out. Dad heard the explosion at his house, and got out of bed to investigate. Noah had to stay in our bed to fall asleep, as I carried him to his bed and covered him up, he said, "I don't like that noise." Sunday night, when I put him to bed, he told me he needed to sleep by Daddy, because that noise might come back. So sweet, Daddy can take care of so much for us! Here is a picture of the sad remains, of what had been our mailbox for 10 years. It stood through sun and rain, ice and snow. Never complained through its many years of service, but it couldn't handle this challenge.The cat and chicken guarding the remains, at Dad's.

Bits and pieces

We've been keeping up with our studies, and between that, work, and "farm things", I haven't taken much time to post. Looking forward to some future plans, hoping for a lifestyle change for Shawn, the kids, and myself. More on our exciting adventure when we know more "for sure" data!
I get the privilege of having Thanksgiving here again this year. Looking forward to time with my mom's side of our family. We enjoyed Saturday evening, 11-19, at Shawn's mom's house. Had a great time looking through her old photo albums of when "the boys"(Shawn and Shane) were growing up. "Mom" always does so much for us every year, I am blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.
Today, I helped Hannah lose 2 of her baby teeth. She looks a little funny with 2 teeth missing from the bottom. She has around 7 left to loose before she gets braces. Josh had a series of dental work done last week, the rest to be done this week. He had a serious amount of decay that occurred from just 6 months ago. He had 4 teeth filled last week, 4 more this week. Not sure what caused this issue, he does brush his teeth, I wonder if it is a combination of soft teeth and our well water.
We spent2 weekends ago at Dad's, gathering stuff for an auction. It was a very fun day playing remember this?! My dad, both sisters, one brother(and his daughter) , Shawn, the kids and I spent roughly 15 hours gathering treasures!
We had our annual weiner roast a few weeks ago. Wonderful to spend time with true friends, that share in our fellowship. Glad for the same faith that unites us and binds us together. Many had to miss this year due to a funeral. Thoughts of sympathy to Lindsey.
I also finished the goat project Shawn helped me start. We added a lean to addition on to the old swing set we had for the goats to climb on, and put tin over it for additional shelter. Zach and I spent a day taking down our electric wire fence and put up more fence posts to make the pasture bigger. Shawn helped rewire and finish putting up the fence posts I didn't get to.
So, that's a summary of what we have been up to for the past month. Doesn't seem possible there is only 5 weeks left in this year. Happy Thanksgiving to all!