I hadn't realized that having teens accelerates the speed of time! I can't believe I have kids (3!) who are teens, and that the rest are getting taller. My weeks fly by compared to when I had 4 kids, 4 & under, and I looked forward all day to Daddy getting home. That was busy, but this is time acceleration. I blink and it is Monday; I blink again and it is Friday. At least winter seems short! I love every moment (hmmm.... that's not quite true....); but I do enjoy these years and get sad to think next year no diapers (hmmm...that's not quite true either...). But there will be 4 teens (fun!), and tons of new opportunities to watch them grow into the adults God wants them to be.

Last week, Deer & her friend worked on the bottles for the penny drive they are going to have at Awana. A missionary family is taking care of 3 year old, Joel. He is autistic and quite a handful, but they are working to help recover his body from the malnutrition and harsh treatment he's had. The penny drive will help with funds for a highchair and crib. They hand out the bottles this next week. Go Girls!!

All the rain in February melted the snow on the pond. It refroze into a beautiful ice-skating rink!! Needless to say, we are enjoying skating! Here are a few pictures of one day:

Dot holding Darling, Dessert in the background.

Duke

Dot the Olympian :-)

Dessert is working on going backwards.

Darling and Rosie truck around.

This is what happens when goofy girls get together and decide to help Darling dress up.

She loved the attention and showing off. Who says the youngest get the scraps of attention?! She is showered with love and attention at every corner. She may not get her baby book filled, but she is sure enjoyed!!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was busy!! Dunk took Deer and her friend (who spent the night) to meet her Dad for breakfast. They had a great visit, and made it home in time for me to take Drum & Dime and Dime's friend to a CAP volunteer event.

Dot and I went shopping while they helped out. She and I found some great deals, then picked up the boys. They had fun, plus at the end they were given stuff from the warehouse. Dime and his friend got matching black Navy peacoats. They were thrilled!! When we got home, they spent the first 1/2 hour strutting around the yard in their coats looking like tom turkeys. :-) I wish I had thought to get a picture. Dime's friend got picked up and then my folks stopped by and my Dh's folks stopped by. We had a great time visiting and catching up. After they left we decided to scrap our supper (It was taking too long to get in the oven.), eat leftovers, and get to the rollerskating rink!

We had a blast! They had a stroller to rent for Darling. She tried out the rollerskating, but then was quite content to ride in the stroller. Everyone had fun!!

Dunk & Drum at the table. Dunk had just taken his skates off. (Of course I remembered the camera at the end of the evening.)

Deer on the rink

Darling getting some of her big brother's blue slushy!

Dot & Dime drooling over the pretzels.

Deer & Duke checking out a game.

Dessert washing his hands after eating a treat.

Dime & Dot goofing around. (See his peacoat!)

Then we came home and had a Valentine's Cake!

I had made the most important thing first when I got home from town - the cake!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

A Book Review - Outlaw Marshal

John “The Stranger” Brockman is back by popular demand!

"A good deed grants outlaw Whipley Langford early release from prison and a friendship with Chief U.S. Marshal John Brockman. Another good deed gets Whip framed for murder and looking at life through a hangman’s noose. John arrives just in time to reveal the true murderers and lead Whip to Christ.

A new man and a fast draw, Whip becomes Brockman’s deputy. Life is still fast and dangerous, and there’s a pretty lady Whip would like to get to know better too. Before he admits his love, Whip is shot in a bank robbery. Survival looks slim until he awakens to hear his lady confess her love. Weeks later, they are married.

Readers who are familiar with the Journeys of the Stranger and Angel of Mercy series reunite with well-loved characters John and Breanna Brockman. Western history buffs will enjoy a wholesome, fast-paced story where the Gospel is presented clearly. Christian readers will learn how to lean on the Lord in times of trial and non-Christians will have the opportunity to make Christ their Savior. "

I enjoyed the fast read of this book. It is a "perfect" book. The main family in the book are a little perfect for reality, plus everyone gets helped in the nick of time - just perfectly. I found I wanted to read the other previous novels to find out about his life as "The Stranger." Despite being so perfect, I still enjoyed reading the story and being encouraged about seeing how God works things for good in our lives.

About The Authors:
Al Lacy is an evangelist and author of more than one hundred historical and western novels, including the Journeys of the Stranger, Angel of Mercy, and Mail Order Bride series, with more than three million books in print. JoAnna Lacy, Al’s wife and longtime collaborator, is a retired nurse. The Lacys have been married over forty years and live in the Colorado Rockies.

Would you like to win your own copy?

Post a comment by February 21. I'll have Darling pick a winner.

Rain! In February?

We've had rain! in February!! I don't think I've ever seen that before. I'm wondering if it is some record. Our yard is a soggy mess, but I love how much the snow has gone down. I'm ready for spring!! I know we technically still have the rest of Feb. and March, but I can still hope spring comes early. Besides I saw a robin two Sundays ago!! The animals always seem to know what is going on. They must know spring is coming early.

The kids were talking yesterday and pointed out that everyone in our family who can dive, has hit a deer this year, Dh, Dot, and I. Isn't that weird! I have taken to traveling to CAP on the main roads vs. the back roads. I just figured less chance that way.

We had a great weekend with my niece, Lil., and nephew, Ky.
Saturday we made roll-outs. Everyone had a blast making their unique treasures.

Ky. found Dessert's Spiderman costume and wore it all weekend! :-) He was so cute!! Everytime he found another item with Spiderman on it, he just oogled over it. Dot made him a guy cookie with red sprinkles and blue m+m's on it to be like Spiderman.

In the oven - see the Spiderman cookie?

Darling had a blast with the dough. She made a mess!!

Lil. loved the boxelders in the house and wanted to collect them. Dessert helped her. She wanted to cut a tiny hole in the bag so they could breathe. She could hardly understand our unfunny jokes about it. lol! We were laughing so hard we could hardly stand up. We finally decided to can our jokes, and she just went back to collecting with Dessert.

Ky. and Darling check out the toys for the doll house. Darling was too hot momentarily. They had a blast going through all the play house stuff. :-)

Duke and Lil. playing checkers. She's a smart cookie!

Spiderman Returns!! (Dessert helped him pose)

Time for a break...

On the way home from meeting their Mom, we were talking about different times this weekend. Dime shared how Ky. got up and sat by him at the computer looking at electric guitars. He said he'd ask him which one he liked and then they'd talk about them. Cute!! Then Ky. got up and went to the stairs and yelled at them downstairs to be quiet! :-) That was the end of his good time, because Dot heard him and ran upstairs to get him back to bed.

More Deer?!

Yesterday, my dh hit two deer on the way home from work! It was totally dark out, and he was about a mile from home. He said there was a herd of deer just standing in the road. Crazy! He hit two, but could only find the one once the policeman showed up. The other one had been in the ditch moving around, so maybe it was able to get up and move on. This deer was pretty big, so we kept it. The boys were thrilled!! Drum ran to put his new knife from Christmas into good use. Dh's truck wasn't too badly damaged. Just needs a new headlight.

This weekend my niece and nephew are staying with us. Dot is babysitting them. I'm looking forward to Darling and K (3) playing. They are so cute together. L (6) is bright and quick and fun to play games with. It will be fun to focus some time on the younger set. I'll have to get my camera out, so I have pictures to go with my blogging.

Dime will be at a friend's selling magazines for guitar money and then going to a fun youth event. He's trying to save up enough for an electric guitar.

So much for my previous entry! Wednesday both Dot and Deer got the bug. I now have a bucket by the younger boys' bed, in case... But they haven't come down with it yet. I guess I'll wait a week before I pronounce us bug free.

The weather yesterday was gorgeous! In the 30's. Today is predicted to be closer to the 40's, and we are all cheering!! :-) Everyone in Minnesota knows what a paradigm shift is. In case you didn't know, a paradigm shift happens every spring and fall. In the fall, at 40 degrees one wears a hat, coat, mittens, and scarf, and shivers!! In the spring, at 40 degrees one wears a sweatshirt and mittens, and runs around cheering the advent of spring!! It will be one of my highlights today to go outside and get rid of some of the ice off of our cement patios. Whoo-Hoo!

Darling Speaks :-)

We are all better over here!!! And I'm finally caught up on laundry. Well, for a bit anyway. Only Dunk, Drum, Dime, and myself caught it. Wierd that the girls, and two youngest boys didn't, but I'm not complaining!!!

I was laying on the couch feeling sick, and Darling was trucking around. She found some little clips for the backs of pins (Awana pins) in the end table drawer. She called them "games". I think because they looked like little game pieces and clinked together in her hand. Then she proceeded to tell me 42 times! "Found the games in the drawer, Mom!" She would change the cadence and emphasis of her sentence, but that was it. I at first figured I wasn't answering her enthusiastically enough, so she felt she had to repeat herself. I tried answering in different ways. No luck! I finally started counting. She has definitely been talking!

She also is funny in that she usually asks to nurse in the middle of the night. She doesn't just roll over and wack me, or fuss and cry. She says, "Noo-nee, Mom?" or "Me have noo-nee, Mom?" Then the other night, after I said yes and pulled her over, she said, "Noo-nee in the night with Mommy! Tastes good!" I was smiling while we went back to sleep.