We have been having a wonderful time around here.   It has been nice to enjoy this time with my parents.  The last Christmas we spent with them was when Mary was nearly 2 so it has been a while!  Here is a picture of Mom and Dad. They came up the stairs to our part of the house to see the girls open their gifts.  But first the girls gave them each something they had chosen for them at the dollar store.  In this picture Mom is wearing the scarf Mary picked for her and Dad is holding the mug of candy from Hannah and box of candy from Lydia!

That is our real cedar tree beside them and thankfully Mom didn't get sick from the limited time upstairs with it.

I will now show a picture of each girl with one of her gifts.  It isn't necessarily the favorite.  Alpheus was pulling double duty with the video and digital cameras so I could supervise the littlest girl!   Speaking of Lydia, here she is with a gift her Daddy picked out.

I picked out the tea set on the floor.  Daddy picked out the dump truck.  You see which one excites her!

Here is Mary with another gift selected by Daddy.  There were two choices in the store.  The girly pink horse and the tan boyish horse.  Today she asked if she could have the daddy horse for her birthday in March!

In the background you can see a monkey webkinz.  This is Lydia's second favorite gift and new sleeping pal.  Her older cousin Ari bought it for her.  Ari named it Buddy online for Lydia.  Lydia calls it Bubba.  Close enough!  Just glad she is starting to be more verbal!

Here is Sarah with her special gift.  She told Daddy that she wanted a child's guitar and to learn to play it with him.  They have had two lessons so far I think.  I told Dh to get his old guitar for me and he could teach us both at the same time!

Hannah asked for a special dress and shoes.  Well we couldn't find what she was looking for, but you will see later that she did get a beautiful new dress.  Instead, I knew that my growing up girl would love a real tea set.  We looked in  7 different stores and finally in Belks we found this 4piece set on sale!  It is really beautiful. If she finds one she likes better some day I will buy this one from her!   She is looking forward to hosting our next tea some time in January!  She told her friend, "I got a real tea set from China."   Well actually it is from Indonesia!

Did I mention the girls decorated our tree?  Their first year to do so.  They loved it! 

Here is the new dress Hannah (and the other girls too!) received from Memaw Rose.  They looked so beautiful!  This was after church on Sunday so their hair was a little wild from wind and hats!   For those who really pay attention to details, yes I moved the room around after we took the tree down.

After the girls opened up their other gifts and cards they had one last gift to open.  I didn't get any digital pics of it, but we video taped the girls going on a treasure hunt for a special gift.  They searched for clue letters of a special word which led them to the last clue - the description of their gift.  You see I couldn't hand it to them because it is tickets to the circus in Roanoke!  They were so excited.  Our girls have never been to a circus before.  When I found out there would be one in January inside the Roanoke Civic Center I thought it must be pretty big!  They were also excited to learn that their cousin, Ari, was also going to be going as part of the gift!  So we are looking forward to a fun experience!

After cleaning up a bit we headed outside to use some of the toys they received.  They all received sleds, but since it hasn't snowed since then I don't have any pics.  Although I have to say that Hannah got hers out and tried to ride down the grassy hill.   Mary got a soccer ball, Hannah a ball and bat, Sarah a child's golf set, and they all got a new tire swing from Memaw!  They were so thrilled!  Here is Lydia getting the "hang of it" and laying back to really ride this horse!

Mary was very excited about her new ball.

Here the girls are as Daddy is explaining a bit about soccer and the rules for the game.

Neighbor's shed, but our ditch.  The goal for this game.

After a bit of running the girls decided to try a different game with the ditch.  Here is Sarah jumping the ditch.

Do you see who is headed for the ditch?  Yep, you may have guessed who tried next.  Actually she made it the first time, but when she tried again she came up a bit short.

Not hurt or even too upset, but she does hate to get her hat dirty!

We ended our fun time outside skipping rocks in the back yard where a bit of a pond has developed!

I will end with a couple of pictures from Christmas eve.  We went to Dan and Lorilyn's (my sis) house for a family party with gift giving and hymn singing.  Afterwards we (our family, Dan, Ari, my brother Monte, his wife Sharon, and Mom) went to a nursing home in the area to sing and share the Word of God.  We had the girls dress up because I knew the residents would like to see them that way.  Before we left the house I had the girls sit on the stairs for a picture.  If I had a good camera and some skill this could be a cut picture I think, but oh well, it is still cute to me.  I have to show two because I didn't get everyone smiling in any single picture.  So just splice the two together mentally, would you?

I think this is the best face forward smile I have taken of Lydia.  On the next one I accidentally missed getting Lydia.  I don't know if she moved when I shot it or if I just goofed.  We were actually getting ready to sing hymns and they were calling for us! 

Some of you may have noticed that Sarah's not wearing her glasses.  Well, she has had glasses for three years and this was her first time breaking them.  We are going to try to order her the bendable kind now.  She can't wait to wear contacts!

Well, 2008 was a wonderful and also difficult year for us.  We are so thankful for all our family and friends who have supported  us through the major changes of the past year.  It is a true blessing to know and love you!

We appreciate your continued prayers for us in selling our home and finding our new place of ministry.  Waiting is hard, but God gives us strength.  There are still two churches praying and seeking a pastor and considering Alpheus for that.  We know that God's will must be done!  May He find us always faithful!

We pray God blesses you and your family in 2009 with more of Him!

Eva

Hannah doesn't really appear to be rushing quite so fast to adulthood but considering the speed of the last 9 years I know it will fly by before I know it.

Since I first heard about the renewal of courting I have really been praying that God will lead our family to manage the future husbands of our girls in this way.  While visiting a friend's blog she linked to this site.  I spent quite a bit of time last night reading the first two couples' stories.  Lo and behold today, I noticed the name Duggar on there!  Whoa!  Stop the presses.  I knew that Josh was beginning to court but I didn't realize it was already finished and that his chosen bride lived very near to our FL home!  Cool!  The show about their wedding will air in January according to this site.

I am so happy for them and thankful that I can rest in God to bring His chosen husband to each of my girls.  I am praying that I can teach them that purity and waiting for marriage is the most blessed gift each one can give her husband.  To truly be able to wear white as a symbol of waiting for her husband is a traditional symbol that is ignored and mocked in today's world. 

I am thankful that my white wedding dress held the full meaning though it was tempting, even more so once we were only a few weeks from marriage.  Some of these couples have never even kissed another person on the mouth which I could not say was true for me.  I didn't know or think I should save my first kiss when I gave it away at the tender age of 13.  When DH and I first married we purchased some videos for our family and one is called Pamela's Prayer.  We look forward to sharing it with the girls as they get a bit older and sharing our exhortation for this type of purity for their lives.

When the girls were small we let them kiss us on the mouth.  At about age 3 we started teaching them to only kiss Daddy and Mommy on the cheek.  I would remind them that my lips are only for Daddy and his are only for Mommy.  They used to giggle at this but I am hoping the idea will be the foundation for these types of discussions!

So maybe one day my daughter(s) will be sharing her testimony of purity on a website like this.  For now it is encouraging for a mom's heart!

In Him,

I have gained a new appreciation for indoor plumbing.  Don't get me wrong - my parents (where we are staying currently) have indoor plumbing.  Unfortunately none has been installed on the upper floors where we are staying.  I can walk down stairs and use the bathrooms or sink but sometimes it isn't that convenient.  Thankfully a friend loaned us a bed side toilet so that we can use that during the night if needed.  (Which has resulted in another new appreciation for the work of a chamber maid. Ewww those poor women!)

Anyway, I am also trying to drink more water and less of other beverages.  It is an on going battle with my flesh to give it what it needs instead of what it wants. One of the reasons I hate drinking water is it always tastes like the plastic bottle or cup.  I can pour it into a glass and it tastes better, but glass is breakable and that isn't such a good idea around a 21month old.  I was visiting a friends site and she mentioned a giveaway here and so I went to check it out.

This giveaway is for a stainless steel water bottle.  I would really like that!  I wish they had a green color but they only have metal, black, pink, or blue.  I think the 18oz. would be perfect.

I also like the double decking storage container.  My sister used to use one like this when she packed her lunches.  That would be great for left overs that I don't want to mix but want to remember to eat together.

Go check out the rest of their products if you are interested.

So if you think about me when you are using your indoor plumbing or drinking some water, please say a prayer that our home in Florida will sell so we can afford another home with indoor plumbing!

Off to drink more water.  On second thought running up and down the stairs might be a good thing to go with this drink more water lifestyle change!

Blessings,By the way, I am thankful, really thankful, that I do have some plumbing upstairs.  I just remembered that I have a washer and dryer up here and that saves a lot on hassle and work.  Didn't want to forget that blessing!

Eight years ago our first baby girl had her 1st birthday.  We videoed all the fun as new parents do.  Her grandparents and most of her aunts and uncles and cousins were present!  That was the last birthday where she would enjoy so many attending until this year.  When God called us to Florida it made it difficult for us to have a large extended family celebration.  Now that God has called us back to Virginia that was something that Hannah looked forward to having again.  We didn't get quite as many as at her first party because of location and short notice but she was thankful to have my parents, two aunts, two uncles and two cousins to share her special day.  For Sarah, it was her first party with any extended family present and she also appreciated it!  (She had not turned 1 when we moved away.)

It was also the first year that Mommy really tried to do a special cake!  I usually just head to Walmart to buy a ready made cake since I am no cake decorater, but this year Hannah and Sarah requested a particularly special cake - Candyland!

I was actually pretty excited to give it a try because it didn't call for real artistic talent, just placing candy strategically!   It was rather expensive to buy the various candy but we are still enjoying the "leftovers."  Here are the girls together with the cake.

We actually celebrated both birthdays early (Sat. the 6th) because of Daddy's work schedule so the girls get to have two days of special treatment!   I usually let them pick what we eat for one or more meals of the day, and they get to pick a fun activity that we don't normally do.  Tonight is Hannah's actual birthday so she selected to watch HomeAlone2 again and dinner was her favorite: spaghetti and garlic bread.  Here is Hannah with her favorite gift of the night.  Grandmom and Granddad bought her (I picked it out) a stuffed Yorkshire Terrier dog and a litter of Yorkie pups.  She loved just getting the dog, but she was over the moon when she opened the second gift with the pups in it!

She has fixed up a little area for her dogs and had named each one before the party was over!  She knows that this is the closest she will probably get to having a dog!

Sarah had also requested a special toy and again Grandmom and Granddad bought it for her!  She loves dolls that look like toddlers instead of babies.  She saw this little girl who speaks English and Spanish and really wanted her!  The doll actually looks a lot like another of her dolls.  It was so funny because when she was telling me why she liked it, she said, "It speaks Spanish too Mommy so it would be good for school."  She knows Mommy is a soft target for school related gifts!

Sarah has already announced that on Saturday (her actual birthday) she wants to eat Chicken Alfredo and bread sticks and play Operation (another birthday gift). 

It really is hard to believe that they have grown so much.  I think I will spend some time tomorrow watching video of when they were babies!   When they were little I used to wonder what it would be like to have them grown enough to help with chores and to learn together in homeschool.  It is really more wonderful than I could even imagine.  Not that we don't have our struggles as they are growing, but it is really so much fun most of the time!  I was rereading some old entries and thinking about how our circumstances and routines may change but in all we are together and loving each other each day.  It really is a blessing from God!

I pray God gives me greater wisdom and love as I seek to raise Godly women who will be wives and mothers one day.  It is indeed a challenge and calling I could not complete without God!

Thank you God for all my precious girls!

wonderful, busy, and (this year) cold time of the year!

I can hardly believe that it is December 2nd!  We are entering the birthday season in our family.  I just celebrated 37 years on Thanksgiving day.  Since my birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, my dh let me celebrate early with a dinner out on Wednesday.  Since we were up in Culpeper, VA he took me to a favorite mexican restaurant that I haven't eaten in for 7 years!  It was as delicious as I remembered!  Then we started Thursday right with chocolate cake for breakfast! Yum!  Baked and decorated by my talented dh!  I am spoiled!  We enjoyed tons of good food and family visit at his brother's house later that day.  Other than missing my twin brother (Happy Birthday Ed), it was a wonderful day!  Here is a picture of the girls on Uncle Adam's porch swing.

Here is DH enjoying some football with his nephews!  The girls wanted to play but don't really know how so I made them stay with me and play basketball or swing.  They also tried shooting a BB gun for the first time.  Only Daddy had very good aim.  I used to be pretty good with a real gun, but I guess I am out of practice!  If you look closely in the picture below you can see a pond in the background.  The girls and I shot the BB gun into that just so we could see that we hit something!

Now we are gearing up for the next two important birthdays.  Hannah turns 9 on the 8th of December and Sarah turns 8 on the 13th.  It is so hard to believe they are so close to double digits!  Then of course we have Christmas and then DH's birthday on the 26th.  Also my other two brothers have December birthdays, a cousin is celebrating 4 years, and a brother in law celebrates a birthday just before Christmas.  Also Alpheus' grandmother has her birthday on Christmas Eve.  So December is just one big month of celebration!

We also celebrated an important first today.  This was the first time my children actually played in snow!   Hannah and Sarah were born in VA but they were too small to play in it before we moved to FL.  They have been waiting and praying for snow since we answered God's call to move back here.  Last night just about an inch fell covering the ground, cars, and walkways.  This morning after breakfast, which was more hurried than normal, the girls bundled up to go outside.  They couldn't understand why mommy insisted that they wear mulitple layers and cover up.  It was not long before they realized that snow is very cold and very wet!  I tried to video and take some digital pictures since Alpheus wasn't here to see them enjoy it.  Here are a few pics of the fun.

Here are the girls making their first snow balls.  They had already made snow angels and ran around to make patterns of tracks in the snow.  Lydia is trying to catch up to them!  She really enjoyed the snow but her hands were freezing!  We haven't been able to find mittens small enough for her hands.  She won't keep on the gloves that fit the girls.  She still managed to enjoy the snow!

Here is Hannah with her snow ball - the beginning of Frosty!

Sarah didn't enjoy snow ball making very much but here is one she made.  As soon as she would have enough to throw that is what she would do!

Mary also wanted to make a snow man but couldn't quite persevere to make it.  As you can see in Sarah's picture, the snow was already starting to melt and they had a hard time finding places to roll enough snow.

Is that a happy girl or what?  Even later when her hands hurt and her pants were wet up to the knees she was still smiling!  We need to get the girls some gloves that are water resistant too!

As I mentioned, Lydia didn't have gloves and was having a hard time making even a small snow ball, but she had fun running around and falling in the snow as she did here!  I don't know if she was falling to try to make another snow angel or just for the fun of it. Cute either way!  I almost didn't get her in the picture.  She has learned to move just as the picture snaps!

So here is proof that Hannah won the stay out in the snow and do something with it challenge!  She worked for over an hour to make her Frosty.  She was so tickled that it was still standing when DH came home unexpectedly tonight!

It is such a blessing to enjoy these special memories with my children.  I am so blessed and thankful.  Praying you all have a wonderful December!

In Him,