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.

Thursday update

I felt like I've dropped off the edge of bloggy world. It is fun to keep up to date, plus fun to read friend's blogs. Lately we've been so busy, I haven't spent much time on the computer, unless I desperately needed to get something e-mailed. I figured I should do an update, since I'm not exercising this morning, but feel ok enough to blog and read blogs!

Last week, I hit a deer on the way home from CAP. Make that my 5th deer in 6 years. Since I didn't hit one this fall, I thought I was home free. Nope, this one just leaped in front of me. We (son, Drum, & I) took the deer to some friends. My dear parents (no pun intended) are helping with the process of getting it fixed. Broken headlight, damaged hood, etc. No personal injuries at all. I am so thankful for their help. Sometimes it doesn't take much to feel totally overwhelmed.

My folks have been taking our 3 older children out for supper every Wednesday night. They, the kids, are in town where they live and have extra time every Wed. It is so sweet. The kids love the eating out and one-on-one time with their grandparents. I hope to get to do the same when I have grandkids.

Saturday, the older 4 helped out at Feed My Starving Children with their youth group. It was a great experience! Dh and Duke went to a service call. Dessert, Darling, and I went to a business expo and hung around with my folks. The two youngest had a blast there and Dessert got a ton of candy which totally made his day. :-)

Sunday after church, I went with the crew to a movie! We saw "Inkheart." I actually thought it was better than the book in some ways, and less scary than it could have been. Dot had read the book to the younger boys, so they were very buzzed about going. I went to cover eyes and to be a security blanket, but I was hardly needed. My brother and his two oldest joined us. He even bought the kids icees or candy! Who has an Uncle that cool!! Dot's friend and parents came as well, and she was so excited to get to enjoy the movie with a friend.

Monday is my busiest day of the week usually. We have school in the am and early pm, then by 3 need to have the house clean and ready for the ballet group that comes. (Anyone else have a Monday clean house problem after the weekend - we do!) A former student of mine, who continued her training, teaches (PTL), so I get to visit with the ladies, and the other kids get to play with the siblings of the students. Then Drum, Dime, and I leave just after the end of ballet for CAP. We usually get home just before 10. Whew!!

Tuesday, I got to see Sarah's baby. Her new baby is GORGEOUS!! So sweet and soft! Just so precious!

Wednesday, I came down with the flue. Horrible. Bad Day. Been praying for Sarah's family all day that I didn't pass anything on to them. So sorry if I did, Sarah. I hear this crud has been going around at the Christian school and church, so I could have caught it anywhere. I'm really hoping the rest of the family doesn't get it! It is supposedly a 3 day bug, but I'm keeping my light breakfast down this morning - PTL. And feel good enough to sit and blog a bit. But I'm getting tired. Well, that's my update.

Happy Birthday Darling!!

Yesterday, my baby turned 2!

How fast the time flies.

She had a great day, except for the baking cake process. I called my friend, Lisa, who sweetly let me borrow her cake pan and a few colors last minute. Darling loved the pan, hugging it and carrying it around. She had to hug it and then kiss it before letting it go.

I took Darling with when we went to the dentist. Dot put the cake in (I got it all ready before we left.) so it would bake while we were gone. When we got home and I took the cake out. Darling was so upset that it was upside down! Finally I took the cake out of the pan. She was so happy with it!

Then I cut off its ears and put it in the freezer. She was horrified!! Finally I just took it back out until Deer had her distracted enough that I could return it. (I like to chill the cake, so it is firmer when I decorate it.)

Well, then I went to decorate it. She watched me put the frosting on the face. Her face was one of "I don't like this." The kids told her the bear was hiding, and Mommy was decorating it, and that she'd like it.

She finally said, "Peek-a-boo?" "Yes!" I assured her.

The decorating process took too long, but company arrived. She enjoyed the cake. When Papa tried to look at it, she told him, "Don't touch!" Daddy helped her by getting her spoon after pictures so that she could taste the cake in the back. That helped so she was willing to take a piece and let everyone else have a piece.

40 pictures (exaggerating) later and the "best ones" are not exactly posed.

She loves to lick the ice-cream lids. Of course, on her birthday she got to lick all she wanted! Papa tried to get a turn, but "No! Papa!" was all he got.

Papa helped her to do "2".

Opening presents was fun!

She would look intently at the cards while they were read, and then dump them on the floor. lol.

She got clothes, a book, and a cute towel!!

She had opened our gift to her a week before the date. She found Baby Moses in our closet. Instead of listening to cries, we decided to just let her have it early. She's had a blast taking a bath with a baby. It is a drink and wet doll, so could go into the tub. Such a cute face!! I'll take a picture of her with it sometime soon. It looks like a boy, and since it goes in the water, we decided to call him, Moses. :-)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Daughter!! We Love You!

Winner Update

And the winner is Losing It! I put all the names in a basket and let Darling draw out the name. :-) I'll be sending her a non-edible prize per request. :-)

As you can tell by the lack of blogging, we started school up again. Plus, I started my new exercise program (gotta have New Year's resolutions). I've been getting up and working out on a rebounder and then doing some situps, etc. I've made it 6 days in a row!! I'm pretty proud of myself. I miss going outside. It seems like I sweat more and work harder running than inside. But per Dr. orders, I gotta take it easy starting up on my shin bones. I'm hoping to get stronger muscles and a workout and then be ready to hit ground outside when the snow melts and it is prettier outside. I don't miss the artic blast to the lungs when it's below zero out.

I can't say I've been perfect with my eating, but I keep trying. I've been working on including more veggies. Check out the salad I made on Friday!! :-)

I covered it in Ranch dressing. :-) I felt a bit like a rabbit, but it was very tasty.

Family Birthday Cakes

To answer those who asked, yes, I made the cake for Deer's birthday. I wish I would have tinted the blue just a little more, so the skates would have stood out.

On their birthdays, my kids get to tell me what they want for a cake. We work together (for reality's sake) to come up with their "dream" cake.

Drum usually has more of a struggle, as his favorite cake is cheesecake. Who wants to cover that with frosting?! So, we have put on a well-washed toy (Star Wars figure or now, airplanes) and candle to get the idea across. One year he had a kid birthday party and a family birthday party. He got to have a frosted cake AND his cheesecake. He was happy! :-)

I used to do everything with frosting, and then I discovered, a person can do a ton with candy. So much simpler! But, occasionally, I still do something drawn or out of frosting.

We have also tried a homemade ice-cream cake for some summer birthdays. Very tasty!! They love getting to pick out the ice-cream and cookies to make it. I use a spring-form pan. They don't get much in the way of decorations, but they like it enough to have it again. I like getting to make it ahead of time, and not doing all the detailed decorating. Having 7 kids meant alot of birthdays, and my creative streak (and energy level) was puttering out.

Over the years I've made a candy train, dolls, a teddy bear beach party, tractor in the fields, a floppy hat with ribbon, a bike, flowers, cats, teddy bears, horses heads, etc. I really liked the hat with the wire ribbon and small bird in the bow. The beach party was intricate, and the train was a child's dream.

What was the best birthday cake you've made? Do you have a birthday cake tradition you'd like to share? Comment to enter a drawing for a big candy bar (since we are talking sweets). :-)

Jesus Christ is Born!!!

Merry Christmas!!

We sure enjoyed our Christmas week!

Tuesday, we celebrated our dear daughter's birthday!

She enjoyed her ice-skates cake, and had fun with both sets of Grandparents.

Grandma and Grandpa K

Grandma and Grandpa W

The girls in the family.
We took pictures of all the kids together. We either had too happy, everyone looking everywhere, or blurry from rushing the camera because everyone was looking just right. I decided to post a "looking everywhere" shot. Deer's cake whited out with the flash.

Wednesday, we celebrated Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa W, and Uncle B & Aunt S. We opened presents first, and then ate. We found the younger kids much more relaxed for supper, as there was no hurry to eat quick for opening presents. Then we visited away the evening. The older kids learned magic tricks from Uncle B, the rest played, visited, and ate cookies. We ended with a family photo of all of us!! We thought it turned out pretty good for setting the camera on a bunch of books, and my dh running back to get in the picture.

Christmas morning we enjoyed at home. The kids did their stockings, and then opened gifts from us and each other. Dh read the Christmas story from Luke, and then we had sausage and crepes for breakfast. We played around and relaxed for awhile, then got cleaned up for friends who came over about 3:00pm. The kids went sledding, while the men did a project (we were having trouble with ice on the roof), and the women watched Darling and visited. We ended the evening playing a loud game of Catch Phrase. :-)

Friday we headed over to my folks for Christmas celebrations with my brothers and their families. We had a great time!! My brother brought his snowmobiles, and the kids had a grand day, in the 32+ degree weather, riding and playing outside. It was fun to visit with family. We couldn't believe, with all the cameras there, that we forgot to take a family picture with everyone. The kids were just so happy playing outside, we forgot to herd them in and line them up. Dad got pictures as we were sitting down to eat. The big kids table gave a rounding toast after prayer. The little kids table was so cute!! We had a type of tenderloin steaks, homemade scalloped spuds, and cooked sweetened carrots, etc. Soooo good! My brothers marinated and barbequed the meat. They could start a restaurant for the precision in cooking and the flavor in the results. Dot gave out her poem books she made. They were a hit, with friends and relatives commenting on how well she did, and how professional they look. She did them through Shutterfly online. I hope to share some of the poems every so often.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, we have been recouping. I came down with a bad chest cold and voice box cold. I needed ib's until today. I haven't wanted to do a thing, but rest and survive (which means doing some of the laundry and dishes). Several of the kids have had it, but not as bad as Mom. Figures. Darling has a smaller case of it as well. She's been tired. I still have a bad cough, but I'm on the mend. If I head out today, it will be to get kleenex.

We are looking forward to New Year's Eve with friends and then resting up for the start of school. It feels like I rest up to take a big breath, and then try to let it out slowly, so I can make it all the way to the end of school. :-) Actually, the more we take a break of it, the more we are ready to hit it in January.